With the exposure of a news story: “31-year-old mother with a pair of children jumped from the 13th floor due to postpartum depression”, depression has become a topic of concern again.
”No one is absolutely immune to depression.” The famous psychologist Martin Seliman called depression the “flu” of psychiatry. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020 depression will be the second most common disease in the world, with suicide being its most frightening symptom. How to get rid of depression deserves the attention of all of us.
I. What is depression?
There are many people who attribute depression to personality or psychological problems, thinking that only people with introverted personalities will suffer from depression. In fact, depression is not just a psychological problem; cheerful people can also get depression. It is related to the dysfunction of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine, causing the brain to always pass on unpleasant messages, with adverse events being nothing more than triggers.
No one is absolutely immune to depression
Depressed mood and depression are also not the same. Depression is a serious psychiatric syndrome that contains not only depression and sadness, but also loss of interest, fatigue, anxiety, anorexia or bulimia, insomnia or drowsiness, and other factors.
Second, what are the manifestations of depression?
1.Loss of appetite or binge eating
Depression can make people become silent and lose their appetite; on the other hand, it sometimes makes some patients feel hungry and overeat, soothing the negative emotions inside through the supplement of taste.
2. Excessive sleep or insomnia
Some depressed patients will snooze from time to time, excessive sleep is a way for them to escape from the reality of negative emotions, and this disruption of work and rest will make patients always feel tired; other patients show restlessness, interrupted sleep or even insomnia. Depression causes poor sleep, and poor sleep aggravates depression, a vicious circle.
3.Often get angry over trivial matters
If you feel that you have been grumpy or chattering lately, and those trivial things that you used to not care about are making you angry, this may be due to depression affecting the normal hormone fluctuations.
4. Inability to concentrate
Often forgetting work deadlines or the exact time to pick up your kids? When people suffer from depression, their brains may be fuzzy, affecting their work, memory and decision-making abilities.
5. Loss of interest
Maybe you used to love hanging out with your coworkers, but in recent weeks, the activities that used to excite you are now boring. Depression deprives people of the ability to seek pleasure from past experiences, which can lead to a vicious cycle.
6. Feeling worthless
When people repeatedly think that they are not good enough, unimportant, etc., will be more inclined to seek some way to justify these negative thoughts, which will also make depressed people face more risk.
7. Feeling like dying
The idea of wanting to end your life always lingers in your mind, meditating on the various ways to seek death. If you are experiencing these every day, or have similar thoughts every day for the last two weeks, seek help promptly, even if you do not feel other symptoms of depression.
8. Panic or anxiety
Feeling an overwhelming sense of dread often can also be depression. It is a constant, uncontrollable panic, usually accompanied by some physical discomfort, such as rapid heart rate, profuse sweating, and sleep problems.
9. Exhaustion
Depression may also cause people to become procrastinated and exhausted rather than able to handle daily tasks. Day after day, patients may feel so exhausted that it becomes difficult to get up and take a shower. If you feel tired all the time and this fatigue has interfered with your daily life, seek medical attention.
10. Unexplained pain and discomfort
Depression may also affect people’s organism, such as headaches, stomach problems, neck and back pain, and even nausea. If you are suffering from unexplained chronic pain, in addition to seeing a doctor for a checkup, you should also consider whether you have depression.
Aerobic exercise can be effective in preventing depression
Third, depression “ravages” the world
90% of depression patients in China are not treated
Depression is by no means limited to a certain group or a certain country, but covers the whole world – there are about 350 million people with depression worldwide. Although genetically related, depression is also called a “disease of the times” and is closely related to the fast pace and stress of modern society.
Many people believe that mental illness is a reflection of weak willpower, and depression has been given a “stigma”. In fact, depression is not a sin, it has become an important public health problem.
Is depression really incurable?
Of course not.
Depression should be treated like a cold or other illness, and one should seek help from a doctor openly and proactively. As long as active medication and psychological adjustment, most patients will be able to get out of the shadow of depression.
V. Self-assessment of your depressive tendency
The following is the authoritative American depression self-assessment scale, choose the level that matches your own – occasional, rare, frequent and persistent. It should be noted that the self-assessment scale is used to evaluate your mood and to remind yourself that it is okay to pay attention to your mental health. The diagnosis of depression should be arrived at by a trained professional, after personally talking to the patient.
Six, the 12 prescriptions to prevent and control depression
1.Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is the best means to prevent and control depression. It is good to walk with friends, take a walk, swim and play ball.
2, maintain balance
Whether it’s life or work, it’s important to maintain a balance. Don’t take everything too seriously.
3.Be grateful
Maintain a positive attitude and have a grateful heart.
4.Don’t push yourself
Don’t rush to make major decisions in a short time, don’t push yourself too much.
5.Don’t have negative energy
Adjust and manage your stress in a timely manner. Negative energy stress may cause or aggravate depression.
6.Eat less junk food
Dietary health and mental health are closely related, junk food can bring junk mood. For example, foods high in oil, sugar and salt.
7.Eat some coarse food
Doctors recommend people with mild depression to eat more foods rich in vitamin B, like coarse grains, fish, etc. Food therapy is probably the most acceptable method.
8, away from the “three drugs”
Drink less alcohol (if you already suffer from depression, resolutely stop drinking), do not smoke, do not take drugs.
9.Get a good night’s sleep
Adequate sleep is an important weapon to maintain a good mood.
10, more confidences
Contact and chat with family and friends more often, don’t keep things inside, believe that there is no hurdle you can’t overcome.
11, more participation
Participate in a society and organization that interests you to stay away from loneliness; if you have ever been closed and lonely, be sure to resume contact with friends, family and society.
12.Medication
If you have been diagnosed with depression, you should listen to your doctor and take medication until you are cured in one go. In some cases of moderate to severe depression, you cannot be cured just by regulating your emotions.
Remember, if you have a friend around you who has this disease, do not discriminate against him and encourage him to see a doctor in order to get scientific advice and timely treatment.