Though over 20 million Americans suffer from depression each year, nine out of ten do not receive adequate treatment. This is due to the fact that they dismiss their depression as a character flaw or sign of weakness and do not seek help. In order to alleviate this problem the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) has encouraged people to take screening tests anonymously on the Internet.

This online test consists of a series of multiple-choice questions with relation to a person�s mood and habit. This test helps identify any symptoms of depression and encourages the person to seek further evaluation by a mental health professional. Care is taken in making people feel comfortable learning about the illness. The American Psychiatric Association reports indicate that 80% to 90% of all cases can be treated effectively. There are several online depression self-tests that focus on psychotherapeutic diagnosis and treatment.

The National Institute of Mental Health has been studying the neural substrate of risk for clinical depression in young people. The goal of this test is to prove that childhood anxiety exhibits dysfunction in prefrontal cortex and amygdala regions involved in emotion regulation. Patients undergo MRI scans to assess abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe.

The Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) test is used to diagnose patients with severe symptoms of depression. This procedure involves the passing of an electric current through the brain to produce controlled convulsions. Each convulsion lasts for 20 to 90 seconds. The patient is awake within 10 minutes. This technique has improved over the years and is now a relatively painless procedure. Short-term memory loss is a common side effect, which resolves quickly.

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