Depression is an emotional experience that all normal people have. Depression is a common emotional response of human individuals to the loss of possessions; if a woman loses a precious necklace, she will sigh and even cry, this is her emotional response to the loss of the possession of the precious necklace. Depression can occur when people lose a loved one, love, or a position of wealth. The behavioral manifestations of the person concerned may have bowed their heads, hands on their heads, unwilling to move, sighing from time to time, double frowning or crying tears, psychological symptoms are sadness, diminished interest, lack of pleasure, self-reproach and regret, lack of concentration, memory loss, etc., and physical symptoms are tea and food, difficulty in sleeping, early waking, fatigue, etc. Not only human beings, the monkey king will also be down and depressed after losing the throne.
Depressed mood and and depression differ in the following three aspects.
First, normal people appear depressed mood must have caused depression for obvious reasons; while depressed patients often have triggers for the first episode, and later relapses do not necessarily have triggers, that is, no stimulus also onset.
Second, depression in normal people will subside in a short period of time, usually not more than two weeks; while the course of depressive episodes is longer, usually more than two weeks.
Third, the severity of symptoms of depression in normal people is less, although normal people can show very strong depression in the short term, but this mood will quickly subside, not so much as to affect personal life, work, learning and other social functions; while the symptoms of depression patients are heavier, often affecting his social functions, such as reduced learning efficiency, can not go to school, can not do the original work, need to take a vacation to recuperate from illness, or Severe to the extent that personal life needs to be taken care of by others, etc.
Typical depression has the following symptoms.
1.Core symptoms
Depressed mood
Decreased interest, inability to enjoy oneself
Lack of energy, excessive fatigue
2.Psychological accompanying symptoms
Psychomotor symptoms (sluggishness or agitation)
Anxiety, suicide (perception and behavior)
Psychotic symptoms, cognitive impairment
3.Physical symptoms
Sleep disorders
Change in appetite
Decreased sexual desire
4.Other: gastrointestinal system symptoms, chest tightness, panic, precordial discomfort, somatic pain sensation, headache, dizziness.
Of course, not every patient will have the above symptoms, and the combination of symptoms varies from patient to patient; however, there are some common patterns. For example, depressed mood, diminished interest and enjoyment, low energy, and excessive fatigue are the three core symptoms, and two or more core symptoms must be present to diagnose depression. Another example is that 70-80% of depressed patients have sleep disorders (difficulty falling asleep, waking up early or sleeping a lot), about 75% have obvious somatic discomfort, and 50-60% have headache or pain in multiple parts of the body; because these somatic symptoms are obvious, patients often repeatedly seek medical or neurological doctors, and as a result, treatment is delayed without a clear diagnosis in time. This shows that the clinical manifestations of depression are relatively complex.