[Mysterygirl202]

I scored a 54 on the depression quiz. Which means in "severely depressed".... What?!

[Rohag]

Hello, Mysterygirl202! Which quiz did you take? All of the depression quizzes or inventories I've seen here and elsewhere on the Web are non-diagnostic screening tools. Their initial value is in quickly informing a health professional that the person taking the quiz may need a closer look.

You seem surprised by your result. Why do you find it surprising?

[Mysterygirl202]

I took the depression screening test onthis website. I am surprised because I don think I'm depressed.

If you don't feel depressed then you don't have depression.

[online user]

I think sometimes you can take the questions wrong and read more into them, answering them falsely--that can give a result that isn't true. As happycheeks says, how you feel is most important.

That aside, I mentioned to a doc once that I was tired all the time. He had me take a 24 hour urine collection and sent it to a lab in TN or someplace--the only place at the time that did this test--and it showed I had low levels of brain chemicals and was probably clinically depressed. Of course, he also knew my family history--I have a sister with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia--so I was likely to have genetic-based depression. I've been on antidepressant medication ever since, about 30 years now.
So I think you can be depressed to a certain level and not realize it, based on my own experience.

Do read more on depression and see if it fits. If not, you are probably just fine.

[Mysterygirl202]

Ok I don't. Feels like I go back and forth. From being super happy and confident to angry and sad upset and such within a few days. I'm not bipolar or anything though I'm pretty sir it's just a teenage thing.

[online user]

Ah, yes, at your age you can feel really down and then bounce back when things go better. Try repeating the quiz when you're in an "up" mood and see the difference.

[hermit13]

I have been in a depressive state for some time and got 53 as a score

[Secretum]

Hi Mysterygirl. I'm curious as to why you would take a depression quiz if you didn't feel at least a little depressed? I've tried to take that same exact quiz on days when I am hypomanic (I'm bipolar), and I can't get through it. It seems so pointless, because I know that I'm going to answer most questions in a non-depressive way.

I would be concerned if you scored high on the quiz, even if you do not have clinical depression. The quiz screens for things like feeling like you are dead, feeling like you are a failure, feeling like you deserve to be punished, having suicidal thoughts, having severe concentration problems, anhedonia, severe hopelessness...as moody as teens are known to be, do you really think that most of your peers feel that bad? Yes, nearly everyone is struggling in some way. Yes, very few people are satisfied with themselves. But most people don't hate themselves. If you can relate to most of what the quiz probes for, even if you are not "depressed", you should still get help. You deserve to feel better than that.

I do not have enough information to comment on your mood swings. That part could simply be a teenage thing. Or it could be due to a personality disorder, rapid cycling bipolar disorder, or a cyclothymic temperament. I'm 20, so I'm pretty close to you in age. I had similar mood swings for years before I was diagnosed with bipolar. How happy and confident do you feel? Just "I can get an A on this test" high, or "I feel so euphoric I could be on heroin or coke. And by the way, I'm going to get an A on that test because I am a f-ing genius. I can't wait to win the Nobel Prize" high?

The depression test is designed to keep track of symptoms over time. You have to calibrate it to yourself; everyone answers these questions differently. I have to really, really agree with something to choose the most extreme answer. Thus, my scores will be lower than those of someone who clicks "very much" for every question that resonates with them. However, I can compare my scores against myself, and it is somewhat useful. When I'm mildly to moderately depressed, I score in the 40's. When my depression gets really bad, I score in the 50's. Just took the test and got a 53.

I hope that something in the mess I just wrote helps you.