1. Do you criticize yourself frequently for what you do, and who you are?  Do you think of yourself as "weak," a "failure," "not good enough," "unlovable," "a loser," etc?

2. Are you unable to feel compassion for yourself, or grant yourself forgiveness most of the time?  Are you cruel to yourself when you make mistakes?  Do you constantly fail to reach your standards for yourself?

3. Do you lack energy, and have trouble motivating yourself to do things?  Do your arms, legs or back feel heavy, achey, hard to move (not due to injury)?

4. Do you feel aggitated, restless, anxious much of the time?

5. Do you believe that things are unlikely to get better?

6. Do you feel irritable much of the time?  Do you often lash out or explode at those around you and then condemn yourself for doing it?

7. Do you think you are eating and sleeping way too much or way too little?

8. Do you feel overwhelmed by your life?

9. Do you feel emotionally numb, except for just feeling bad?

10. Are you frequently tearful; do you frequently feel sad for no apparent reason?

11. Are you having trouble enjoying anything?  Have you lost interest in activities you used to enjoy?  Have you lost interest in sex?

12. Are you having trouble concentrating, or making decisions?

13. Do you find yourself compelled (meaning do you feel unable to stop when what you are doing causes serious risks or negative consequences to your relationships, work, health, self-esteem, integrity, etc.) to eat, drink alcohol, use drugs, have sex, put yourself in danger, gamble, shop, look at pornography, or anything else for the purpose of giving yourself emotional relief from your suffering?

13. Are you withdrawing from people when you can?

14. Do you wish for death to end your pain; do you think everyone would be better off if you were dead?

15. Do you have any of the above experiences regularly with the cycle of your period, or in the wintertime?  Have you recently given birth?

If you answered "yes" to two or more of these, you may be experiencing some form of depression. Please consider getting a professional evaluation, and some therapy to relieve your suffering. Counseling really can help.

Call me, and we will figure out what you need and how to get it so you don't have to suffer any more.

If you feel in any danger of killing yourself, or letting yourself be killed by not being careful, please call your local crisis line (or click on suicidehotlines.com) IMMEDIATELY!

To learn more about women and depression, click on women and depression for the National Association for Mental Illness. Also check my "Q & A About Depression" and "What Troubles You" pages for information about depression, and my book collection for information about recovering from depression.

If you are experiencing postpartum blues, or depression, please get support.  You may need physical support to get more sleep and to take better care of yourself, and you may also need emotional support.  You may be able to find a group of women going through what you are, and that might be the best choice for you.  If you'd like to talk to me about the possibility of individual counseling, call or e-mail, and let's set up a time to meet.  If you need to have sessions on the phone, or bring your baby with you, those are better options than suffering without help.

To learn more about postpartum depression, read this excellent description of it, which may answer your questions.  (The link within the postpartum article to "psychotherapy," on the other hand is a horrible explanation--don't even bother to look at it).  Click here for postpartum depression.  If you have more questions; come back and ask me in the forum, or privately through my e-mail.

Men and women respond to depression very differently.  To learn more about men and depression, click on men and depression.  Statistics tell us that twice to ten times as many women as men fit the criteria for depression.  This may not mean that more women are depressed than men.  The medical definition of depression is based on how women generally express it.  Men tend to express their depression differently, so statistics don't count most depressed men as depressed.  Men feel more shame about being depressed, so are less likely to admit it, or get help for it.   In men, some of the common signs of depression actually mask the depression.  These include anger and blaming, alcohol and drug use, addiction to pornography, impotence, dependence on sex to improve mood, difficulty being friendly, trouble concentrating and making decisions. 

I specialize in treating depression. 

I've written an e-book of dozens of depression tools.  It's a collection of everything I've learned and teach clients about preventing and recovering from depression, from both personal and professional experience.  You can buy it on this site here, but I'm sharing six of the tools free: