We now offer state-of-the-art, interactive psychiatric tools. You can use your computer to:
* make psychiatric diagnoses
* keep a private diary (to document, graph and statistically analyze your week-by-week progress)
* test your brain (memory, concentration, verbal fluency, orientation, and thinking speed or executive functioning)
* statistically test whether your current treatments have been successful.
Everyone has days where they feel blah, down, or sad. Typically, these feelings disappear after a day or two, particularly if circumstances change for the better. People experiencing the temporary "blues" don't feel a sense of crushing hopelessness or helplessness, and are able, for the most part, to continue to engage in regular activities. Prolonged anhedonia (the inability to experience pleasure), hopelessness, and failure to experience an increase in mood in response positive events rarely accompany "normal" sadness. The same may be said for other, more intense sorts of symptoms such as suicidal thoughts and hallucinations (e.g., hearing voices). Instead, such symptoms suggest that serious varieties of depression may be present, including the subject of this document: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)