Be in touch with your health!

Being healthy and staying healthy are important for everyone. Part of our overall health is mental health.  Our emotions, thoughts and attitudes affect our energy, productivity and health in general. Good mental health strengthens our ability to cope with everyday hassles and more serious crises and challenges.

It is helpful to identify mental health conditions early.  One way to see if you may be experiencing signs of a mental health condition is to take a confidential depression screening questionnaire like this one.  You can use your screening results to start a conversation with your primary care provider and plan a course of action if needed.

Remember, mental health conditions are not only common, they are treatable.  There is a wide variety of treatment options for mental illnesses ranging from talk therapy to medication to peer support.  You will find a listing of Community Mental/Behavioral Health Resources at www.healthywashingtoncounty.org under the  "Resources" tab.

Scoring this Questionnaire
After completing the 10 questions, click the done button.  The next screen will share a percentage and your score number of how many points out of a total of 27.   Disregard the percentage and focus on your score and see the guide below to interpret your score.

SCORE                                ACTION                                                                                        
4 or Less ......................No further action is suggested
5 thru 14........................Have a conversation with your physician about your score
15 or more.....................Contact a behavioral health provider to review your screening result



* 1. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things?

* 2. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless?

* 3. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or sleeping too much?

* 4. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling tired or having little energy?

* 5. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by having a poor appetite or overeating?

* 6. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling bad about yourself -- or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down?

* 7. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by having trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television?

* 8. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by moving or speaking so slowly that people could have noticed? Or that being the opposite--being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual?

* 9. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way?

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