• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine
Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA

Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA
  • About Our Hospital
    • Welcome
    • Maps & Directions
    • Our Leadership
    • Photo Gallery
    • Facilities and Amenities
    • Quality
    • Shared Decision Making
    • Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC)
    • Patient Safety
    • Patient Rights
    • Patient Responsibilities
    • Ethical Issues
    • Nondiscrimination Statement
    • Advanced Directives
    • Patient Complaints and Grievances
    • Notification of Firearm Prohibition
  • Patient Care Services
    • Inpatient
    • Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP)
    • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
    • Outpatient Clinics
  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
    • 4 West Unit Schedule and Contact Information
    • Information for Visitors
    • Primary Members of the Treatment Team
    • Accommodations
    • What to Bring
    • Unit Programs, Group Therapy, and Rules
    • Preparing for Hospitalization
    • Other Important Information Regarding your Treatment
    • Your Rights to Make Decisions about Medical Treatment
  • Adult Psychiatry
    • 4 East Unit Schedule Visiting Hours and Contact Information
    • Information for Visitors
    • Primary Members of the Treatment Team
    • Accommodations
    • What to Bring
    • Preparing for Your Hospitalization
    • Your First Day in the Hospital
    • Other Important Information Regarding Your Treatment
    • Your Right to Make Decisions about Medical Treatment
    • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  • Geriatric Psychiatry
    • 4 North Unit Schedule and Contact Information
    • Information for Visitors
    • Primary Members of the Treatment Team
    • Accommodations
    • What to Bring
    • Preparing for Your Hospitalization
    • Your First Day in the Hospital
    • Your Rights to Make Decisions about Medical Treatment
    • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  • Patient and Family Resources
    • Information for Visitors
    • Planning for Discharge
    • Planning for Care after Hospitalization
    • Medical Records
    • UCLA Psychiatry App
    • Checklist for Depression
    • Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC)
    • Helpful Websites
  • Coping and Relaxation
    • Apps for Relaxation and Coping
    • Book Recommendations
    • Dog Therapy
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine

Checklist for Depression

  1. Home
  2. Patient and Family Resources
  3. Checklist for Depression

Checklist for Depression

Share this

What is depression?

Checklist for Depression. UCLA Health

A depressive disorder is a whole-body illness, involving the body, mood, and thoughts, and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, feels about himself or herself, and thinks about things. It is not the same as being unhappy or in a blue mood. Nor is it a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better.

Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression. During any one year period, nearly 21 million American adults suffer from depressive illness. Yet, treatment can alleviate symptoms in most cases. (Visit our health library for more on the different types of depression and symptoms of depression.)

Checklist for depression

What's the difference between a bad case of the blues and the painful mental disorder known as depression? According to the experts, impaired functioning is usually a clear-cut indication of a major depression.

Here's a quick checklist of depression symptoms. If the list sounds familiar, you may want to see a counselor or a psychiatrist.

How can I get help?

For more information about UCLA Neuropsychiatric and Behavioral Services, please call the ACCESS Center at (800) 825-9989 or (310) 825-9989, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PST).

Call 1-800-825-9989

  • Depressive mood. Do you suffer from feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, or pessimism for days at a time?

  • Sleep disturbance. Do you have trouble falling asleep at night or trouble staying asleep—waking up in the middle of the night or too early in the morning? Are you sleeping too much?

  • Chronically fatigued. Do you frequently feel tired or lack energy?

  • Isolation. Have you stopped meeting with family or friends? Increasing isolation and diminished interest or pleasure in activities are major signs of depression.

  • Appetite disturbance. Are you eating far less than usual—or far more? Severe and continuing appetite disturbance is often an indication of depression.

  • Inability to concentrate. If you can't seem to focus on even routine tasks, it's probably time to get some help.

  • Dependence on mood-altering substances. If you depend on alcohol or other drugs to make it through the day, you may be suffering from depression. Often, the substance abuse causes symptoms that mimic the appearance of clinical depression, but are, in fact, due wholly to the drug use.

  • Feeling a sense of inappropriate guilt

  • Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide or a suicide attempt

Interactive Tools:

  • Depression Quiz
  • Depression Risk Assessment
  • Late-Life Depression Quiz
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest
UCLA Health hospitals ranked best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report
  • UCLA Health
  • Find a Doctor
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Subscribe
  • Patient Stories
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • International Services
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Billing
  • Health Plans
  • Emergency
  • Report Broken Links
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-310-825-2631
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Your Feedback
  • Get Social
  • Sitemap
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest

Sign in to myUCLAhealth