The Depression Quiz, or Is It All In Your Head?

What do Buzz Aldrin, Winston Churchill, Agatha Christie, Rodney Dangerfield, Charles Dickens, Eminem, Terry Bradshaw, Dick Cavett, Courtney Cox, Nelly Furtado, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, John Lennon, Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Marie Osmond, Edgar Allan Poe, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Anne Rice, John D. Rockefeller, Brook Shields, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Mike Wallace and Walt Whitman have in common?

Sorry for the long list, but the famous people listed above are only a few of a long, long list of notables who have suffered from depression.

Yes, a man who walked on the moon, legendary recording artists, sports greats, noted authors, gifted composers, presidents, moguls, celebrated actors--all have experienced bouts of serious depression.

And yet, despite revelations from public figures, the stigma and misunderstanding about depression persists. Just how informed are you about depression? Can you separate fact from fiction? Try your hand at the quiz below.

TRUE OR FALSE:

1. Depression only happens to people who are weak emotionally disturbed. 

2. Depression isn't really a medical condition at all--it's all in your head.

3. Depression is like getting the blues--a normal part of life. Stuff happens.

4. Teens don't suffer from real depression--they're just naturally moody.

5. Symptoms of depression can last for months, even years.

6.  Thinking positively will make your depression go away.

7. You're not certain to "inherit" depression even if it runs in your family.

8. Depression can cause emotional and physical pain.

9. Developing depression requires a specific negative event.

10. Taking anti-depressants will change your personality.

The answers are below:

1. False. Depression is an equal-opportunity disorder that affect millions of strong, decisive, functioning and otherwise healthy individuals every year.

2. False. Depression is a medical condition that affects not only mood and thoughts but also your body.  Those suffering from depression have been found to have higher levels of stress hormones as well as decreased levels of activity in some areas of the brain.

3. False. Depression is to "the blues" as pneumonia is to a cold. Unlike feeling blue, depression is pervasive, deep, long-lasting and can lead to far greater and more damaging outcomes including suicide.

4. False.  Depression can affect people of any age, socioeconomic group or ethnicity. And depression isn't the same as "moodiness."

5. True.  This is one of the characteristics that separates true depression from the occasional few days of feeling sad or down.

6. False. You cannot "think" your way out of depression any more than you can any other illness. Depression is a condition caused by a variety of factors which are thought to include changes in brain chemistry and structure due to environmental and even biological influences.

7. True. Just because family members have suffered from depression, it's not a given that you will. While you may inherit a tendency toward depression, and genetics can play a factor,  it takes a combination of factors to develop depression.

8. True.  Depression can be accompanied by changes in body chemistry which not only affect mood but also how you feel physically.

9. False. While there are precipitating events that can trigger a depressive episode, depressive symptoms can arise suddenly, even when your life seems to be going well.

10. False. Anti-depressants are designed to work with the body chemistry related to the symptoms of your depression, not the neurochemistry related to personality.  Many people who take anti-depressants report feeling more like themselves, with relief from depressive symptoms.

So, how did you do?  More and more, people are demystifying mental illness by shedding light on the facts, and talking about their own experiences of depression, anxiety, phobias and more.

And the prevailing views on depression are becoming less shame-based, and more tempered by understanding and compassion.

All in your head?  Hardly. If you've been feeling deeply sad and hopeless for more than two weeks, with little hope in sight, and have difficutly just getting through everyday activities, you may benefit from time with your physician, therapist, lay counselor, even your minister or rabbi.  There is help for how you feel.

And the good news is, feeling hopeless doesn't have to last forever. Just ask Buzz Aldrin, Janet Jackson, Eminem, Beyonce, Mike Wallace, Marie Osmond, Anne Rice...well, you get the picture.

Thanks for listening.