ARE YOU GRUMPY, SAD OR DEPRESSED?

 GRUMPY

Many people feel down at the moment with covid, lockdown, economic uncertainty and a range of other social or economic factors. And that's before we get out of bed!

Blue Monday is the name given to a day in January (typically the third Monday of the month) said by a UK travel company, Sky Travel, to be the most depressing day of the year. The concept was first published in a 2005 press release from the company, which claimed to have calculated the date using an "equation".  There doesn't appear to be much substance behind the claim. Blue Monday appears to be a PR stunt dreamed up to sell holidays. But the phenomena is often commented upon. Blue Monday is now 2 weeks ago, but these are not normal times! 

SAD

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern.SAD is sometimes known as "winter depression" because the symptoms are usually more apparent and more severe during the winter. There is plenty of evidence to support this. 

Symptoms of SAD can include:
• a persistent low mood
• a loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities
• irritability
• feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness
• feeling lethargic (lacking in energy) and sleepy during the day
• sleeping for longer than normal and finding it hard to get up in the morning
• craving carbohydrates and gaining weight

There is a scale between being down and being depressed, and in some cases being down is as normal as being happy. It is human and healthy to have a full range of emotions.

Fear → feeling of being afraid , frightened, scared.
Anger → feeling angry. A stronger word for anger is rage
Sadness → feeling sad. Other words are sorrow, grief (a stronger feeling, for example when someone has died)
Joy → feeling happy. Other words are happiness, gladness
Disgust → feeling something is wrong or nasty. Strong disapproval
Surprise → being unprepared for something.
Trust → a positive emotion; admiration is stronger; acceptance is weaker.
Anticipation → in the sense of looking forward positively to something which is going to happen. Expectation is more neutral

DEPRESSED
    
Emotions are part of normal life and should not be treated as abnormal or illness in the context of things that may be happening around you. However depression is a real thing. How should we distinguish between normal feelings and depression?

In this context it is interesting to look at Beck's Depression Inventory. A bit of self diagnosis and reflection may be useful to either get things in perspective or seek help.

This depression inventory can be self-scored. 0 1 2 3 for each block of questions. The scoring scale is at the end of the questionnaire.

0. I do not feel sad.
1. I feel sad
2. I am sad all the time and I can't snap out of it. 
3. I am so sad and unhappy that I can't stand it.

0. I am not particularly discouraged about the future.
1. I feel discouraged about the future.
2. I feel I have nothing to look forward to.
3. I feel the future is hopeless and that things cannot improve.

0. I do not feel like a failure.
1. I feel I have failed more than the average person.
2. As I look back on my life, all I can see is a lot of failures. 
3. I feel I am a complete failure as a person.

0. I get as much satisfaction out of things as I used to. 
1. I don't enjoy things the way I used to.
2. I don't get real satisfaction out of anything anymore. 
3. I am dissatisfied or bored with everything.

0. I don't feel particularly guilty
1. I feel guilty a good part of the time. 
2. I feel quite guilty most of the time.
3. I feel guilty all of the time.

0. I don't feel I am being punished. 
1. I feel I may be punished.
2. I expect to be punished.
3. I feel I am being punished.

0. I don't feel disappointed in myself. 
1. I am disappointed in myself.
2. I am disgusted with myself.
3. I hate myself.

0. I don't feel I am any worse than anybody else.
1. I am critical of myself for my weaknesses or mistakes. 
2. I blame myself all the time for my faults.
3. I blame myself for everything bad that happens.

0. I don't have any thoughts of killing myself.
1. I have thoughts of killing myself, but I would not carry them out. 
2. I would like to kill myself.
3. I would kill myself if I had the chance.

0. I don't cry any more than usual.
1. I cry more now than I used to.
2. I cry all the time now.
3. I used to be able to cry, but now I can't cry even though I want to.

0. I am no more irritated by things than I ever was.
1. I am slightly more irritated now than usual.
2. I am quite annoyed or irritated a good deal of the time. 
3. I feel irritated all the time.

0. I have not lost interest in other people.
1. I am less interested in other people than I used to be. 
2. I have lost most of my interest in other people.
3. I have lost all of my interest in other people.

0. I make decisions about as well as I ever could.
1. I put off making decisions more than I used to.
2. I have greater difficulty in making decisions more than I used to. 
3. I can't make decisions at all anymore.

0. I don't feel that I look any worse than I used to.
1. I am worried that I am looking old or unattractive.
2. I feel there are permanent changes in my appearance that make me look
3. I believe that I look ugly.

0. I can work about as well as before.
1. It takes an extra effort to get started at doing something. 
2. I have to push myself very hard to do anything.
3. I can't do any work at all.

0. I can sleep as well as usual.
1. I don't sleep as well as I used to.
2. I wake up 1-2 hours earlier than usual and find it hard to get back to sleep. 
3. I wake up several hours earlier than I used to and cannot get back to sleep.

0. I don't get more tired than usual.
1. I get tired more easily than I used to.
2. I get tired from doing almost anything. 
3. I am too tired to do anything.

0. My appetite is no worse than usual.
1. My appetite is not as good as it used to be. 
2. My appetite is much worse now.
3. I have no appetite at all anymore.

0. I haven't lost much weight, if any, lately. 
1. I have lost more than five pounds.
2. I have lost more than ten pounds.
3. I have lost more than fifteen pounds.

0. I am no more worried about my health than usual.
1. I am worried about physical problems like aches, pains, upset stomach, or constipation.
2. I am very worried about physical problems and it's hard to think of much else.
3. I am so worried about my physical problems that I cannot think of anything else.

0. I have not noticed any recent change in my interest in sex.
1. I am less interested in sex than I used to be.
2. I have almost no interest in sex.
3. I have lost interest in sex completely.

INTERPRETING THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY

Now that you have completed the questionnaire, add up the score for each of the twenty-one questions by counting the number to the right of each question you marked. The highest possible total for the whole test would be sixty-three. This would mean you circled number three on all twenty-one questions. Since the lowest possible score for each question is zero, the lowest possible score for the test would be zero. This would mean you circles zero on each question. You can evaluate your depression according to the Table below.

Total Score____________________Levels of Depression

1-10____________________These ups and downs are considered normal 
11-16___________________ Mild mood disturbance 
17-20___________________Borderline clinical depression 
21-30___________________Moderate depression 
31-40___________________Severe depression
over 40__________________Extreme depression



Tim HJ Rogers MBA CITP 
PROJECTS, PROGRAMMES and CHANGE /  CONSULTANT MENTOR COACH
Adapt Consulting Company 
Consult CoCreate Deliver
Mob +447797762051 Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader and an ICF Trained Coach as well as mentor for the IoD. He is a past curator for TEDx. Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower. He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a former Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.  



LINKS
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/