Short answer: yes—“depressed” vs “happy” can be measured indirectly with decent reliability by combining mood scales with physiological and behavioral signals. No single metric is perfect, but a small battery paints a clear picture.
Quick ways scientists measure it
Self-report mood scales (gold standard for affect):
PHQ-9 or HAM-D (depression severity)
BDI-II (Beck Depression Inventory)
PANAS (Positive/Negative Affect Schedule) — captures “happy” (positive affect) vs negative affect
Behavioral/digital markers:
Sleep/actigraphy: depressed → fragmented sleep, later wake times
Activity level: lower daily movement; fewer “exploratory” trips
Speech prosody: flatter pitch/tempo; fewer inflections
Facial expressivity: reduced genuine (Duchenne) smiles
Phone use patterns: reduced social contact, more late-night use, longer immobility bouts
Physiology:
HRV (heart-rate variability): typically lower in depression; happier/relaxed states show higher, more coherent HRV
Cortisol diurnal slope: depression often shows flatter slope (less drop from morning to evening)
Inflammation: elevated CRP/IL-6 sometimes present (not diagnostic alone)
EEG: reduced left-frontal alpha asymmetry (i.e., relatively less left-frontal activity) often seen in depression
Neuroimaging (research settings):
Altered activity/connectivity in amygdala, ventromedial/dorsomedial PFC, anterior cingulate, and default-mode network; happy states show different patterns (more reward-circuit engagement, better PFC regulation)
A tiny, practical battery you could use
PANAS + PHQ-9 (2–3 minutes total)
HRV (5-minute seated recording)
Actigraphy or phone step counts (passive)
1-minute voice sample (analyze pitch variability & speaking rate)
Run it weekly. You’ll see “happier/coherent” periods trend toward:
higher PANAS-Positive, lower PHQ-9,
higher HRV coherence,
more regular sleep/activity,
livelier speech prosody.
How this fits your “raise vibration” work
Before/after your practice, include PANAS and HRV. If “vibration” rises, you should see ↑ PANAS-Positive, ↓ PANAS-Negative, ↑ HRV coherence, plus richer prosody. That’s a clean, science-friendly way to evidence the shift.
Note: these tools indicate states/traits; diagnosis requires a clinician. But for tracking change (micro → macro), this combo is robust and measurable.
