How do you know?
I know the symptoms can be varying and different.
Do you know of any free depression/ mental health screenings that I can give her that can be found online?
I'm concerned about her!
Answer:
"Really down" doesn't have an official definition.
Dysthymia iirc has to last at least 6 months and basically means that the baseline of your mood is "feeling down" instead of "feeling normal". If a normal person would rate their mood 6 or 7 out of 10 on average, a dysthymic person might rate their mood 4 or 5 out of 10 on average... not severely depressed, but just not as happy as normal people.
(Major) depression has to last at least two weeks and you have to be rather down for it... say if you rate your mood 4 or less on a scale from 1-10. This can seriously interfere with your life (dysthymia interferes with your life also, but on a lesser scale... people with depression might even have a hard time getting out of bed etc).
Bipolar is when sometimes you're depressed and sometimes you're manic. Everybody feels up and down from time to time but bipolar people much more extremely so. When manic they might believe they can do anything, might barely sleep, spend tons of money, talk a *lot* and really fast, have unsafe sex or w/e. There are a few other variations on this but it doesn't really matter, if a person is depressed sometimes it's probably best to leave it up to a psych to figure out whether it's just depression or bipolar.
Yes, there are some questionnaires online that will try to determine whether you're depressed or not. Use google, you can probably find them as quickly as I can.
It sounds like your friend really has a problem though. Just tell her that you're really concerned about her and that it'd make you feel happy if she'd go see a doctor/psych once to determine whether she's depressed or not. I don't know your situation but if you offer to pay for it it'd make it even more clear to her that you're really worried about her and she'd probably take you more seriously. Let her know that you think that her unhappiness is outside of normal range and that you want to help. Just telling her how you feel might be a wake-up call to her that something is really wrong with her.
Good luck. :)
There is a big difference in having mental problems and emotional problems. I had a friend that was having some problems and started drinking from sun up to sun down he was just really depressed not crazy. Maybe your friend just needs someone to take up time with her through her hardship. If that doesnt help maybe a counselor then maybe its time to go to the looney ben.
Below are a couple of many sites which may be helpful. Being someone who has had major depression I can say the presence of a good friend and support network is critical. Your friend is lucky to have someone who cares about her. Having said that, it is sometimes hard for a person to acknowledge they have depression - there is still a huge stigma attached to such a diagnosis. If after researching you feel she has depression talk to her about your concerns. Perhaps get others to join with you. Being depressed is frightening state to be in but it is caused by a chemical imbalance and not due to some inate weakness of the individual.
Depression can be brought on by many things like intense stress (physical or emotional) including illness and loss of a loved one.
If she wont seek out help consult a doctor or therapist to ask for assistance
The things that helped me most were friends, dialectic behavorial therapy and medication for a while. It is possible to overcome mental illness. It's made easier by the support of good friends who are non judgemental.
Best wishes to you and your friend.
http://dailystrength.org/support/mental_...
The medicine and health information post by website user , ByeDR.com not guarantee correctness , is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
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