How do I know if I have depression?
Last updated September 3, 2026.
The clinical line: depressed mood or lost interest in most activities, present most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks. Around that core cluster the other signs - changed sleep and appetite, exhaustion, slowed or agitated movement, poor concentration, worthlessness, thoughts of death. Ordinary sadness fades with circumstances; depression sits on you regardless and flattens function. A clinician confirms it and rules out lookalikes like thyroid problems.
What to do
- Count the weeks. Two-plus weeks of most-day, nearly-every-day symptoms is the diagnostic threshold, not a rough patch.
- Check your function. Work, relationships, and self-care sliding together is the pattern that matters.
- Get evaluated. A clinician confirms depression and excludes physical mimics; treatment - therapy, medication, or both - works.
- Act on any thought of self-harm now. Call or text 988 in the US, or your local crisis line, any time of day.
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