FAQ: How Do You Know How Serious a Case of Depression Someone Has?

A fellow caregiver asked...

How do you know how serious a case of depression someone has?

Expert Answer

Kenneth Robbins, M.D., is a senior medical editor of Caring.com. He is board certified in psychiatry and internal medicine, has a master's in public health from the University of Michigan, and is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His current clinical practice focuses primarily on geriatrics. He has written and contributed to many articles and is frequently invited to speak on psychiatric topics, such as psychiatry and the law, depression, anxiety, dementia, and suicide risk and prevention.

If the depression is causing someone to be socially withdrawn, dysfunctional to the point that he or she can't work or do basic household chores, and the person is talking or thinking about suicide, that's clearly severe. If, despite a lack of joy and in spite of having the physiological symptoms of depression, a person is still able to go to work and follow his or her usual routines (even if not as effectively and efficiently as usual), then it's a milder case.

To evaluate whether someone has depression in the first place, a clinician looks at how many symptoms of depression the person is experiencing, and whether they've been present for at least two weeks and at what level of intensity.