The present invention relates to a depression detection system (2). Furthermore the invention relates to a method of detecting depressions and to a computer program. In order to provide an objective measure for a depression as well as for a relapse into depression, a depression detection system is suggested, the system comprising a patient-based device (2) using an actimetric sensor unit (3) adapted to measure a patient's activity and further comprising a signal processing unit (4) adapted to obtain a depression detection result based on the measured activity of the patient.