Quiz: Where are your blues coming from?

Questions 6 - 10

6. The phone rings and the call display shows that it is your mother-in-law calling. You pick it up:
a Reluctantly (or maybe you don't pick it up at all). You just don't feel like talking to anyone.
b Apprehensively after flying off the handle last week. Why were you so nasty? You can't even remember what the issue was.
c Wishing she had called at a better time. You're still smarting from last week's argument with your own mom and wish that mothers, in general, would disappear for a while.
d Hoping that the conversation will be brief – and that it's not her asthma again, which will require that you drop what you're doing and rush over to her apartment.
e Immediately, glad it's not a telephone solicitation.

7. It's your birthday next week. Your primary thoughts are:
a "I certainly haven't accomplished what I had hoped to by now. What a loser I am!"
b "I hope I feel more like celebrating next week than I do right now. At least maybe there'll be chocolate."
c "I would be looking forward to it more if I hadn't just had a blowup with my best friend. I couldn't feel less like partying!"
d "What about my big project that's due next week? As if I need this right now, too."
e "I wonder if my family will take me out or surprise me at home?"

8. A friend calls, thrilled and gushing about her date last night with Mr. Possibly Right. You:
a Listen politely, feeling more hopeless about your own undesirability.
b Ask, "Was that the one with the hair plugs?" and then call back to apologize, wondering why you found her enthusiasm so irritating.
c Wish you could be happier for your friend. As it is, her news just makes you feel worse about your own recent breakup, marital spat or romantic drought.
d Listen with one ear while you write up a grocery list, feeling increasingly tense as your friend goes on without any sign of winding it up.
e Are attentive and excited for her.

9. You blow up at your spouse because you don't feel that he's carrying his share of the household responsibilities; the ensuing row fails to resolve the issue. The next day, you:
a Leave for work sad, blaming yourself entirely but unable to come up with a resolution.
b Apologize for blaming him, and suggest the two of you discuss the matter again when you're both feeling less emotional.
c Acknowledge that some of your frustration and despair would be more appropriately directed at your teenagers, who aren't pulling their weight.
d Recognize that if you weren't so overextended, you would have handled the matter differently.
e Decide to resolve the issue immediately by sitting the whole family down and working out a chores-and-responsibilities plan.

10. Which of the following statements best describes your feelings of sadness or "the blues"?
a "I feel down or depressed a lot – or even most – of the time."
b "I can be going along just fine, then hit an emotional low for no reason at all. It goes away, but it always comes back."
c "I'm a relatively happy person, but lately I've been in the dumps and can't seem to climb out."
d "I feel down when I go for a long time without having time for myself or when there's so much going on in my life that I feel out of control."
e "I feel sad sometimes, but I can make myself feel better and I generally enjoy my life."