INTRODUCTION: According to Kessler et al. (1994) approximately 17% of people are likely to experience some type of depression at some point in their lives. Another figure is: approximately 2.6 million people in England suffered from depression in 2006 (Thomas and Morris. 2003). Brown (2001) even suggests that by 2020 depression will become the second most common illness. All these alarming figures lead to the question of what exactly depression is and how to evaluate and treat it. In the DSM-IV, depression is defined as experiencing five or more of the following symptoms in a two-week period that represent a change in previous functioning: (1) significant weight loss/gain (2) insomnia/hypersomnia (3) agitation or retardation psychomotor (4) fatigue/loss of energy (5) feelings of worthlessness and/or guilt (6) decreased ability to concentrate/indecisiveness (7) suicidal ideation The criteria must include a depressed mood or loss of Pleasure. The following study will address the assessment of depression. In particular we will examine the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). A standardized evaluation system is important for both the therapist and the patient. With a system agreed upon by doctors it is much easier to align assessments and treatments. It ensures that when three different doctors interview a patient, they reach similar results for the final evaluation. Our goal is to find out how reliable MADRS is. The hypothesis will be: if the MADRS is reliable we expect that the means of the groups of participants evaluating the patient will be similar. METHOD: Participants: The participants in this study were 37 first-year psychology students divided into two groups A (n= 19) and... half of the paper... also the patient's judgment. Despite these facts, the pattern of symptoms shows a similar pattern. Group A seems to agree on most of the symptoms when looking at the modality. All items, except reported sadness and inner tension, have a mode of 4. The same is true for group B although here the items that do not follow the pattern of four are inner tension and reduced appetite. Internal tension is perceived similarly by both groups. Our hypothesis at the beginning can be supported. The results do not coincide exactly but are quite similar, particularly if we consider the groups' lack of experience with depression and its assessment. To obtain a more accurate result, future studies could introduce an evaluation model. An experienced doctor might pre-evaluate another patient and explain his reasoning as to why he evaluated in his own way.