Google know lets its users to know if they are suffering from Clinical Depression with a simple search. Read on to get a complete perspective and assess your mental health.
Do you notice any of these signs in yourself?
- Feeling too sleepy all the time or not being able to sleep
- Eating too much without really being hungry or not able to eat at all
- Not able to focus
- Losing interest in meeting friends
- Not interested in socializing or doing things that you otherwise like to do
- Feeling blank and dazed]
- Feeling excessively lethargic
If you regularly feel these, chances are you may be depressed.
Don’t want to discuss about it?
Just like any other health issue, depression is a mental health issue and is very common in today’s tough lives. However, not many of us are comfortable talking about it with family and friends, as society still looks at depression as a mental issue, and not necessarily as a mental ‘health’ issue.
This discreet Google test can help!
You’ve probably used Google search at some time in life, maybe also about things related to health. But often, the search results are too vast and complex to make much sense of. To make it easier to search for health queries, Google has added a Knowledge panel for all health-based queries.
To take it further and help you assess about your own health better, Google is adding an online test called the PHQ-9 test, for those who want to know more about depression but don’t know what to look for. Google has developed the test in collaboration with American drug company Pfizer to help users identify the exact level of their depression, from mild to severe.
Google decided to add this test to its health based searches, as only 50 percent people who actually have depression ever talk about it or ask about it. This means that at least 50 percent of those who really suffer from depression never get any help or treatment.
How to access
You can access the test in the Google search app on your Android or iOS operating device by typing ‘clinical depression’
The test comes with 9 questions that give you a score after answering all the questions. Options for answers range from ‘little interest in doing things’ to ‘feeling depressed or hopeless.’
Its Confidential
The test is aimed at helping you identify your symptoms and level of clinical depression, and being more aware of your health condition when you speak to a health professional of your choice. The test and its results are absolutely private and confidential.
