Observations of Clinical Depression - Cross-Examining Psych Doctors, Tip #75

Depression can be observed in a variety of ways during a face-to-face interview.  Specifically, clinically depressed individuals typically present with narrative statements such as those that express feelings and thoughts of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness, incompetence, self-reproach or guilt, pessimism, failure, anhedonia, lowered self-esteem and/or demoralization.  These individuals also frequently exhibit cognitive dysfunction in such areas as memory, concentration or attention, insight and judgment.  In assessing the credibility of a psych report, you should check to see if the doctor provided a description of any such observations or any of the patient’s narrative statements supporting a clinical depression in their report.