The second chapter of David D. Burns' book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy includes a depression self-test which I took. I was proud of myself for only scoring 39/100 but apparently that is worse than I thought, though not as bad as it could be. Dr. Burns breaks the score into six levels:
0-5: no depresson
6-10: normal but unhappy
11-25: mild depression
26-50: moderate depression
51-75: severe depression
76-100: extreme depression (p. 22)
He warns the reader to beware of the meaning of "moderate depression" and recommends seeking professional help within two weeks if this score doesn't change. I'm hoping that in my case, I answered worse than what I really am. My mood is certainly much better this week than it was last week, but I have included last week since I am supposed to answer the way I have felt over the last week. After a great date with Sinae and a lot more intentional effort in showing her my love without the expectation of something in return I am feeling much better and I think I am giving her more confidence as far as my love for her and this seems to be increasing the amount of trust she has in me.
As I look back on my past, it seems that I have struggled the most when I have had more stress. So it seems that my struggles with my relationship seem to come when I am feeling the most stressed, which suggests I'm not managing my stress very well. Even though I am reading a book written for people who feel depressed I am feeling more hopeful this week about myself than I have in previous weeks.
For those of you wondering, I have e-mailed Lewis B. Smedes "Grace Creed" to myself and am planning on printing it off tomorrow and then hanging it on my bathroom mirror.
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