Do you know how to deal with negative emotions in daily life? 300 million people around the world are suffering from depression, and famous singers have passed away due to depression | Symptoms | Global

Famous Chinese singer Li Wen passed away due to depression, causing countless fans to mourn. In fact, depression is one of the most common mental disorders. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, there are 300 million people of all ages worldwide who suffer from depression. According to data from our country, the lifetime prevalence of depression among individuals is 6.8%. Many people are still hesitant and panicked when they hear about depression, unwilling to accept it. So what is depression? Dr. Shao Chunhong, Deputy Director of the Department of Psychiatry at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, gave an explanation to readers.

Depression is a mood disorder characterized by significant and persistent mood swings. The patient's symptoms can manifest as mild depression, severe grief, and even hallucinations, delusions, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, affecting work, life, and study.

Why do people suffer from depression? Expert explanation: The etiology of depression is very complex, and there is currently no exact pathogenesis. However, existing scientific research results indicate that it is mainly caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. From a genetic perspective, insufficient production of neurotransmitters beneficial to emotions by individuals themselves, or increased sensitivity to stress responses such as stimuli and trauma, can lead to disease. From the perspective of environmental factors, including childhood or adolescence trauma, or adverse environments or events encountered throughout life, can cause illness.

Depression is not just an emotional issue, it can also lead to emotional, physical, and cognitive symptoms.

Emotional symptoms mainly refer to the symptoms that patients are least willing to accept or admit, like the hidden parts under an iceberg, which require careful consultation by doctors to discover. Specifically, it manifests as a decrease in interest in things or activities that were previously enjoyed, or a loss of interest. Even if you persist in doing it, there is no sense of pleasure. Clinically, it is common to see that patients will give up some activities they originally enjoyed, such as sports activities, extracurricular activities, social interactions, etc., and they will not even be interested in daily work, life enjoyment, etc. Some are accompanied by obvious nervousness, worry, etc.

Physical symptoms are what patients are most willing to express, like the exposed part of an iceberg, which is more likely to attract attention. Often manifested as patients seeking medical treatment in various departments of a comprehensive hospital, but no major problems were found in various examinations. Physical symptoms include sleep disorders; Feeling weak and fatigued throughout the body; Panic, chest tightness, stomach discomfort, diarrhea and constipation; Changes in appetite and weight, etc.

Cognitive symptoms are of greater concern in elderly patients with depression. Once cognitive symptoms appear, it is easy to worry about developing senile dementia, exacerbating feelings of pricelessness and self blame. Cognitive symptoms mainly manifest as lack of concentration, decreased memory, and delayed thinking. Patients may feel that their brain is becoming dull, the thinking process is difficult, and some simple problems may take a long time to complete.

How to determine if you have depression?

Taking the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in the United States as an example, the diagnostic criteria for depression are as follows:

Within two consecutive weeks, there were significant functional changes that were different from before, manifested as more than five of the above, of which at least one was mood depression or loss of interest and pleasure.

These symptoms cause obvious pain or functional impairment in social, occupational, or other important aspects;

These symptoms are not caused by any substance or other physical condition.

If you want to know if you may experience depression, you can also use a simple 9-item patient health self-assessment questionnaire for screening. However, this scale only indicates that there may be corresponding levels of depressive symptoms, and diagnosis must be made through formal and detailed examination by a specialist, and appropriate treatment methods should be selected according to the patient's condition.

Scoring rules and treatment recommendations for the PHQ-9 scale:

0-4 points without depression

5-9 points for mild depression

10-14 points moderate depression

15-19 points for moderate to severe depression

20-27 points for severe depression

Finally, Shao Chunhong reminds citizens not to suspect depression just because they feel sad or unhappy. Depression is a negative emotion, characterized by low mood and decreased interest in activities. Like happiness and anger, it is a normal psychological response. Normal people will experience similar emotions when encountering stress in unfavorable situations, with a short duration and little need for medical treatment.

However, citizens should also learn to monitor their own emotional changes. For negative emotions, it is necessary to analyze the causes, face them squarely, accept them, observe their duration and severity, actively adopt methods such as changing attention, adjusting thoughts, exercising moderately, eating a healthy diet, regular sleep patterns, as well as pouring out and seeking professional help, so as to let negative psychology go smoothly and prevent the occurrence of depression. Even if diagnosed with depression, as long as appropriate medication, psychological or physical treatment methods are selected with the help of regular specialist doctors, and standardized treatment throughout the entire disease process is adhered to, depression is not invincible.