Treatment is more effective the earlier it can be started. Seeking a doctor's advice about symptoms of depression is the best place to start. Your doctor may order blood tests and perform a physical examination. Some presenting symptoms could be related to a different problem such as thyroid problems or a viral disease such as mononucleosis. If these tests come back normal, further tests can be done. The patient can complete a Beck Anxiety Scale and a Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Elliott, Smith, and Beck (2005) include the Beck Anxiety Scale, a series of 21 multiple-choice self-report inventories used to measure the severity of a patient's anxiety level. Answering questions about how the potential depressed patient has felt in the past two weeks will give the doctor an idea of ​​where to go next. Patient Health Questionnaire (2015) provides us with a 9 question form or a simple 2 question form. Most doctors prefer the PHQ-9, which provides a little more information about how the patient has felt over the past 2 weeks and includes a question that asks how difficult the problems have made it for the patient to do his or her job, go to work, or go to work. deal with other people or take care of things at home. Testing for depression can also be done by a mental health professional. This professional can discuss your family history, get a complete list of your symptoms and how long they have been happening, whether or not this is your first episode, ask you if you are using drugs or alcohol, and if you are thinking about harming yourself . OR