National Depression Screening Day is currently working to educate the public and health professionals about this new information. Individuals who are experiencing these symptoms should ask their doctor about clinical depression. National Depression Screening Day, held each year during Mental Illness Awareness Week, is designed to call attention to the illness of depression on a national level, to educate the public about its symptoms and effective treatments, to offer individuals the opportunity to be screened for depression, and to connect those in need of treatment to the mental health care system. Starting with only 90 sites in its first year, the program has expanded to more than 2,800 sites and reached more than 85,000 people in 1996. Recently, research produced as a result of the last several National Depression Screening Days has revealed that some people may experience depression without necessarily suffering from significant or very troublesome changes in sleep and appetite.
Dysthymia is a milder form of depression that lasts two years or more.
Screening Day is currently working to educate the public and health professionals about this new information.