I feel sad all the time. Does that mean that I have depression?

Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM 5), clinical depression, or Major Depressive Disorder, is a condition characterised by symptoms such as having a consistently low mood, a loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, that may occur over a period of at least two weeks:

a. Feeling down or sad almost every day

b. A loss of interest or pleasure in most activities

c. Feeling tired easily

d. Feeling worthless or excessively guilty

e. Suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts

You can take a depression and anxiety self-assessment on mindline.sg to help you understand your state of emotional wellbeing. It is a clinically-validated test that recommends actions for users to take based on their assessed stress and anxiety level.

If you require counselling, you may chat with mindline.sg’s Wysa, an emotionally intelligent AI chatbot which offers free online therapy 24/7 or contact a mental health agency or healthcare institution in Singapore.