This is the most common question I've received from you about depression. And this is what really worries many: how to distinguish depression from just a bad mood or other diseases? Could I have hidden depression that I don't know about? Could my loved one have it? If you suspect that you may have depression, then most likely something is already going wrong in your life. But maybe this is just a temporary decline or accumulated fatigue. The ICD (International Classification of Diseases) recommends diagnosing depression by two of the three main symptoms that last MORE than 2 weeks. The duration of the condition is an important indicator of depression. 1) Depressed mood, which does not depend on circumstances. 2) Anhedonia - loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities. 3) Severe fatigue, “loss of energy.”⠀ In addition, additional symptoms may be observed: High levels of anxiety. Pessimism, a negative view of oneself, the world and the future. Feelings of worthlessness and worthlessness. Suicidal thoughts. Insomnia or oversleeping. Problems with appetite (overeating or, conversely, complete lack of appetite).⠀ A depressed person is not always dramatically upset and crying pillow, as they show us in the movies. More likely, a depressed person is in an apathetic state - nothing is interesting, nothing makes you happy, you don’t want to go anywhere, and you wake up in the morning already exhausted. Such a freeze of activity, joy and pleasure. Often people with depression say that they exist, but do not live. Their own life begins to seem worthless, and the future does not bode well. This is not a clinical indicator, but from experience it is quite reliable: you don’t want to wake up in the morning. For example, I generally evaluate my mood by how easy or difficult it is for me to wake up in the morning. If you think that all of the above applies to you, then I recommend the following sequence of actions: Find the Beck Depression Scale on the Internet, go through it, and calculate the resulting value. If the value is higher than normal, contact a psychologist/psychiatrist (if you are afraid of doctors, contact first psychologist).⠀ Don’t engage in self-diagnosis, much less self-treatment. Antidepressants are powerful drugs with many side effects. If you don’t have money for “talk” psychotherapy, then you can contact a psychiatrist for properly selected medications completely free of charge.