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Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

news.ycombinator.com

11–20 of 227 posts

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#11
post #5

What’s special about the last two weeks? Or is this someone trying out the poll creation feature on HN?

This is actually a pretty standard question by psychiatrists. It's because the DSM-V criteria for Major Depressive Disorder is "Depressed most of the day, nearly every day..." - and it's one of several other features you have to match within a 2 week period to match it.

It's a fancy way of saying "The unusual depressive episode (which can be normal) has lasted at least two weeks (not as normal)". How that exact number was determined I'm not sure (though it was the APA), but that's the standard everyone follows.

EDIT: I believe a variation of this question is standard as part of the PHQ-9 which is a screening/benchmark quick self-assessment for depression.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#12
post #5

What’s special about the last two weeks? Or is this someone trying out the poll creation feature on HN?

The US elections were in the last two weeks, the pandemic continued to get worse in Europe and the US, and Pfizer / BioNTech's vaccine news came out in the last two weeks.

Maybe the parent was considering the potentially depressive nature of facing lockdowns again.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#13
post #5

What’s special about the last two weeks? Or is this someone trying out the poll creation feature on HN?

Election? News that covid can cause neurological deficits in 20% of infected + increased rates of infection?

Selection bias.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#15
post #9

I dont think the poll should show the options in random order considering they're ordered in terms of frequency, it makes for a confusing setup

It makes sense in general, otherwise there's bias towards the top of the list. It's just this particular poll it doesn't work for.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#18
Since there's a link to 'unvote' next to the option that I chose, I can only assume that this poll is not anonymous and that my choice is stored with my username somewhere on HN's server.

It could also be cookie-based, but something to keep in mind if you have privacy concerns.

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#19

I've never felt like life has no joy in it, I'm highly motivated to achieve my goals and I think they're worthwhile goals. The thing is, I think I won't achieve those goals, and that makes me anxious, not medically anxious, but there's this constant felling of dread. So, I wouldn't say I'm depressed, but I have this constant dread that accompanies me everyday.

[deleted]

Re: Poll: Have you experienced depressive symptoms over the past two weeks?

#20
post #14

I get depressed for 5 / 15 seconds once every few days. How do I respond to this poll?

That’s not depression - you’re experiencing sadness.

Only if their 15 seconds of depression are related to negative stimuli.
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