Tips and Advice

Depression

Maybe you feel hopeless, worthless and unable to cope. Sometimes, you don't even know why you are depressed. If you find yourself struggling with feelings of sadness, unrelieved stress or fatigue that won’t go away, remember that help is available.

Our depression program is part of our chronic condition management program. We want to help you understand depression and learn how to live well.

Managing depression

Depression is a medical condition that is both common and treatable. Counseling and medicine are options that can help you feel well again. You can manage your condition. Working with your behavioral or mental health care professional can help you feel better.

If you think you may be experiencing depression, score your feelings on the PHQ-9 (PDF), a standard questionnaire. If you get a high score, you may want to consider joining our program. Our case managers will work with your doctor, behavioral or mental health care professional to offer the support and the follow up care that’s best for you.

Setting goals may help you feel better or less overwhelmed with feelings of depression. Try it with our depression action plan (PDF) and discuss these topics with your health care professional.

If you are working with a behavioral or mental health care professional, refer to the health checks at the right for more information about your care.

Behavioral or mental health case managers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for emergencies. For general questions, they're available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Just call 1-800-482-5982.

To get help finding a behavioral or mental health care professional, call the number on the back of your ID card. You don't need a referral from your primary care physician. You can also find a provider through our online provider search.

Depression program: If you fill a prescription for antidepressive medication, we’ll send you information about how to take the medication and a tip sheet on depression. We’ll also contact you if you don’t fill or refill your antidepressive prescriptions.

Health Checks

If you've been diagnosed with depression, ask your doctor or behavioral health care professional about these things:

Monitoring your moods
How often to visit your doctor
What to do if your symptoms change
Taking medicine for your depression and what to expect (how often, side effects, how quickly your symptoms should improve)

These are general suggestions. Check with your doctor or behavioral health care professional about your treatment.

If you've been hospitalized for depression, follow up with your doctor or behavioral health care professional within seven days of being released.

Contact us for help

To talk with a nurse, call us at 1-800-392-4247 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Log in to Member Secured Services and click the Health and Wellness tab for more health resources, including in-depth information about these conditions.