Depression
Feeling sad or down is common and usually goes away on its own. But if for a long time you have felt down, tired, listless, have lost the desire even for things that you usually enjoy doing, or if everyday life feels boring and meaningless, you may have suffered from depression. There is no clear line between low mood and depression, but in depression the symptoms are more severe and last longer.
Symptoms
More symptoms can be low self-esteem, feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, irritation or anger, physical problems such as stomach aches, headaches and sleep problems, or suicidal thoughts. It is important that you do not wait too long to seek help.
Reason
Depression is considered a mental illness and depends on an interaction between external factors and your vulnerability to depression. External factors can be many, for example stress, serious illness or death in your vicinity, financial problems and unemployment. Vulnerability is in your genes, you are born with it. You can also get depression when you have had a serious infectious disease, for example covid-19. It is common to suffer from depression at some point in life.
Treatment
Depression can be treated in different ways. It depends on what type of depression you have and what treatment you prefer. Examples are advice and support to create good habits, psychotherapy and medication.
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Remote patient monitoring for depression
If you are being monitored for depression, you will receive a validated and score-based questionnaire, the PHQ-9 form, sent to you in a mobile app. There you answer questions about symptoms of depression. The scores on the questions are added up to give a total score. The total score indicates whether you suffer from depression or not. When you answer the form, the result is recorded in the app and automatically transferred to your caregiver. In the app you can see previously answered depression questionnaires. If the results of the questionnaire show that you have depressive symptoms or thoughts of self-harm, your caregiver will be notified of this and can contact you for possible measures.
As physical activity is important in the treatment against depression, you can also be monitored for physical activity, steps and sleep. For example, data can be downloaded from apps such as Google Fit and Apple Health.