What Is Seasonal Depression?
7. Diagnosis
Diagnosis of seasonal affective disorder can be challenging due to symptoms shared with a number of other mental health conditions. A doctor usually conducts a thorough physical exam and runs laboratory tests to rule out physical causes for depression.
If a physical cause is ruled out, a physician or mental health professional assesses your symptoms using a psychological evaluation. Moreover, the DSM-5 may be used to establish whether symptoms meet the criteria for diagnosis. According to this manual, in this pattern, depression should only be present at a specific time of year (fall/winter) and complete remission should occur at a distinctive time of year (spring). In addition, the patient in question should have experienced at least two episodes of depression in the last two years and seasonal episodes should outnumber nonseasonal ones.
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