Women account for the majority of depression sufferers, and the number of women with depression is about twice as high as that of men, and this is true for all ethnic groups around the world. The specific reasons for this are not yet clear, but it is estimated to be related to the large fluctuations of hormone levels in women around menstruation, childbirth and menopause; and the fact that women are relatively more likely to suffer from some adverse life frustrations and stress than men, which can easily lead to depression and anxiety, and in serious cases, depression. Among women with depression, postpartum depression is a great concern, because postpartum depression is relatively common, for example, foreign surveys show that about 30% of women experience depression and anxiety before and after childbirth, and about 10-15% can be diagnosed as depression. In reality, many women experience anxiety and depression before and after childbirth, but only a small percentage of them are diagnosed with depression. This is related to the fact that people generally do not know enough about depression and do not think about it as a mental illness when patients and family members experience anxiety and depression; in addition, the low diagnosis rate of postpartum depression is also related to the lack of attention given to this illness by obstetricians and gynecologists in general hospitals. These factors have led to many patients with postpartum depression not receiving timely and effective treatment.
The onset of postpartum depression is sometimes insidious and goes undetected in the early stages, but some patients may develop to a more serious stage. However, most patients are depressed, irritable, anxious and sleepy, and do not care much about their babies, as if even the great joy of the newborn baby cannot dilute her inner distress. Some of the more serious cases may even require hospitalization. It is important to note that in severe postpartum depression, it is best not to have the mother and baby in the same room, meaning that the mother and baby should be cared for separately, often only bringing the baby when she needs to breastfeed and separating the mother from the baby afterwards. If the mother needs medication, then the baby needs to be fed artificially and cannot be breastfed.
Older adults are also a high prevalence group for depression. Some studies have shown that depression is more common in older adults than we think, with about 5.7% of people over the age of 60 suffering from depression. Geriatric depression can occur alone or often after various physical illnesses. Older adults suffer from physical decline and often suffer from various chronic diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes. Many elderly people suffer from these chronic diseases, but the treatment effect is not good, or the disease often recurring, the disease causes long-term physical discomfort, it is easy to make the elderly appear bad mood, and lose confidence in their health and life. There are also some elderly people who have a big change in their living environment, such as the original children around them have gone their own way, and the colleagues and friends who used to be together are not around, especially some elderly people who are widowed, living a lonely life, not getting the love of relatives and friends, some bad emotions can not be released for a long time, it is easy to appear depression, if these problems can not be solved in a timely manner. If these problems are not solved in time, they often develop into depression.
Many elderly depressed patients often behave differently from typical depression, they often do not actively express their emotional problems, but more often describe physical discomfort, such as headache, dizziness, poor appetite, chest tightness, fatigue and weakness, urinary urgency and frequency, body pain, poor sleep, etc., which makes the diagnosis of depression difficult. If elderly people appear to be unwell, but there are no obvious abnormal findings after various examinations, the diagnosis of depression should be considered.
Older people should consciously enrich their daily life, develop various hobbies and interests, and actively participate in cultural and sports activities. In addition, you should avoid living alone as much as possible and spend more time with your family and relatives. If you have any unhappy feelings, you should talk to your children or friends. The children of friends and relatives should be more sympathetic to the elderly, care more about each other, chat more with the elderly, try to create a harmonious family atmosphere, respect them, so that the elderly can really experience the care of people around him/her, so that they can better prevent and improve the depression.