Depression – Diagnostic Interviewing

Time to read: 2 minutes

OPEN QUESTION – How have you been feeling in yourself lately?

CLOSED QUESTIONS

Mood

• Have you felt low or depressed in yourself lately?
• Have you felt low/depressed/tearful every day, for most of the day, in the last two weeks?
• How does that affect you? (empathy)  It must be difficult to feel like that over such a long period. Tell me a bit more about the way you feel.
• Does your mood improve or get worse as the day goes on (Diurnal variation)
• When was the last time you smiled? (Mood)
• On a scale of 1 to 10, if 10 was really, really down, where would you put yourself?

Anhedonia

• What are kinds of things that you normally enjoy doing? (Anhedonia)
• Have you been enjoying these activities as much as you’ve done in the past? (Anhedonia)
• When was the last time you were involved in (activity) (Anhedonia)

Anergia

• If have children/or working – Having two children must be quite a handful, I wonder how your energy levels keep up? (Anergia)
• Have you been feeling unusually tired in yourself lately? (Anergia)
• How have your energy levels been over the past couple of weeks?

Concentration/Decision Making

• Have you been able to focus on things lately?
• What’s your concentration like?
• When you watch TV, are you able to follow what you watch?
• Do you find it difficult to read books because you can’t concentrate? (if mention of reading as a hobby)
• Have you had problems making decisions?
• How has that affected you? (empathy)
• Can you watch a half-hour television show from start to finish without losing your focus?

Appetite

• Since you’ve been feeling low, have you noticed any changes in your appetite?
• Since you’ve been feeling low, have you noticed any changes to your weight?
• Has it increased, decreased or stayed the same?
• Have your clothes got any bigger or smaller on you?
• Do you actually enjoy food as you usually would?

Sleep

• What has your sleep been like lately?
• Do you find it difficult to fall asleep? (Initial insomnia)
• Do you find it difficult to stay asleep? (Middle insomnia)
• What time do you wake up? (Early morning wakening)
• Is that usual for you?

Hopelessness, guilt, worthlessness

• How do you see the future?
• Do you see a future?
• Is there anything hurting your conscience?
• Do you ever blame yourself for what you are going through/experiencing?
• How do you feel about yourself as a person?
• How would you describe your confidence, self esteem?
• Do you feel other people would be better off without you?

Suicide

• Have things got so bad, that you feel like life is not worth living?
• What thoughts have you had?
• How close have you come to doing any of the things you mentioned?
• What stops you?
• It is not unusual/sometimes when people feel low they may have thoughts of suicide/not wanting to be here… Have you ever felt that way?