Depression is a name that most people have heard of and will recognize, this is a mental illness that the patient can have feelings of sadness along with other symptoms that can disrupt the person’s life. Depression can affect anyone and age is not a factor as it can affect men, women or children, however some people are more at risk than others. Women are more often diagnosed with depression than men according to research.

Before treatment can begin a proper diagnosis is necessary to identify the form of depression the person is suffering from. A depression diagnosis helps to identify the type of depression you are suffering from to ensure the proper treatment is administered. Depression can be severe or mild; therefore treatment is planed according to the severity or mildness of the depression. Depression diagnosis involves a thorough mental or psychological evaluation to find out whether the person has a depressive disease or if there is another underlying cause. Depending upon the diagnosis of the specific type of depression a proper treatment method would be prescribed by the physician and this can include therapy as well as medicine.

Depression is diagnosed according to the signs or symptoms exhibited by the person suffering. Diagnosis is the only possible way to identify the type of depression a person is suffering from by looking at the symptoms. There is no other available method that can identify depression without a trained professional evaluating the symptoms or signs. The signs and symptoms would be monitored by specialists while diagnosing are, the patients medical history, medical history of their parents and other factors that can contribute to depression. Various questions are asked by Specialists at the time of diagnosing, some of them are listed below:

1. The patient will be asked about the symptoms, what they are, how often they occur and how long they last.
2. Second question will be about the period of time the patient has been exhibiting those symptoms.
3. How severe are the symptoms? Have has the person ever had the symptoms previously as well or not? Have they ever been treated for depression before?
4. If the answer is yes that they have been treated before, then the next question would be, which treatment method was used and was it effective to get rid of depression?
5. Another pertinent question is there anyone in the family that has suffered from depression? If yes, what methods were used to successfully treat their depression? Did this treatment help to control the depression long term?
6. Do you drink or use drugs might be another question.
7. Do you get feelings or thoughts of suicide will also be a question asked when a person is suffering from depression.

The physician will ask these questions purposely to make sure you meet all the diagnostic conditions as per DSM (Diagnostic statistical manual of mental disorders). DSM contains set of guidelines for the diagnosis of mental disorders. When the patient meets the criteria as per DSM they will be diagnosed for the particular type of depression that they are suffering from.