Getting to Know Depression Together

People usually experience sadness, frustration or even sadness after encountering difficulties or setbacks, but such moods usually do not last too long, and most people can quickly get out of such moods and return to their normal life, which is usually a depressive mood.Depressed mood is not equal to depression. Depressed mood is common in daily life, lasts for a short period of time, and does not cause significant impact on social functioning.However, there are some people, persistent feeling of low mood, sadness, not happy, fatigue, energy and physical decline, loss of interest, experience no joy, attention can not be focused, unable to learn, do not want to work, do not want to see people, and even pessimism, want to leave the world, this may be the manifestation of depression.Depression is a disease that lasts for more than two weeks, affects social functions such as learning and work, and requires professional help.

The etiology of depression is complex, and is the result of a complex interweaving of psychosocial and biological factors that interact with each other.There are three main neurotransmitters in the brain, norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and dopamine, which play an important role in the onset of depression; genetic studies have shown that the onset of depression is closely related to the individual’s genetic qualities; psychosocial factors also play an important role in the onset of depression, for example, the negative events such as widowhood, divorce, unemployment, setbacks in schooling, poor economic status, and illnesses, which can lead to the occurrence of depression; the presence of adverse experiences in childhood, personality traits such as marked anxiety, compulsivity, and impulsivity, which can lead toDepression; Individuals with adverse experiences in childhood and personality traits such as marked anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and impulsive are prone to depression.

According to the data disclosed by the World Health Organization, more than 350 million people suffer from depression globally, and the number of people suffering from the disease in China is about 95 million, and the lifetime prevalence of depressive disorders is 6.8%, with the incidence rate of females higher than that of males, accounting for 65% of the patients with depressive disorders.According to the World Health Organization, the number of people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders has increased significantly since 2020, with a surge of 53 million people suffering from depression, an increase of 27.6%, and 62 million people suffering from anxiety disorders, an increase of 20.8%.Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, and the main clinical manifestations include core symptoms and other related symptoms, of which the core symptoms are depressed mood, loss of interest and lack of energy.Other symptoms are cognitive, physiological and behavioral symptoms that appear on the basis of depressed mood.Such as poor concentration, insomnia, unresponsiveness, decreased behavioral activity, and fatigue.Here’s what we know about depression in terms of emotional, somatic, behavioral and cognitive symptoms.

01 Emotional symptoms

Affective symptoms are the main manifestations of depression, including self-perceived or observable by others low mood, inability to be happy, diminished or even loss of interest, inability to experience a sense of well-being, and even inexplicable sadness.The depressed state of mind exists almost daily and generally does not get better with changes in the environment.However, a characteristic diurnal variation (heaviness of day and lightness of night) may occur throughout the day.Some patients also have experiences of anxiety, distress, and motor agitation, and are “frazzled,” fidgety, and back and forth, leading to more prominent inattention.Sometimes these experiences are more prominent than the depressive state of mind, and thus may mask the depressive state of mind, leading to missed or misdiagnosed cases.

02 Somatic symptoms

Somatic symptoms are not uncommon in many depressed patients and include abnormalities in weight, appetite, sleep and behavioral activities.Some foreign scholars refer to them as biological symptoms. Typical manifestations include: loss of interest and pleasure in activities that are usually enjoyable; lack of emotional response to usually pleasant environments; worsening of depression in the morning; presence of psychomotor retardation or agitation; waking up two or more hours earlier than usual in the morning; significant loss of appetite; loss of at least 5% of body weight in a month; and significant reduction of libido, and so on, a total of eight manifestations, and usuallyPatients with moderate to severe or major depressive episodes have four or more of these physical symptoms.

03 Cognitive symptoms

Some degree of diminished or impaired cognitive functioning is often present in major depressive states.Many depressed individuals will describe the presence of slowed thinking, inattention, distractibility, diminished information processing, and indifference to self and surroundings.In general, some of these depressive cognitive impairments are transient, especially in attention span, concentration, memory storage, and reproduction, and these cognitive impairments return to premorbid levels when the depressive symptoms resolve, but some cognitive impairments do not resolve with the resolution of the depressive symptoms.It is important to note that elderly depressed patients may have atypical affective symptoms and may present with predominantly cognitive impairment, which may be severe enough to reach dementia-like levels and be easily misdiagnosed.Therefore, patients presenting with symptoms of dementia syndromes need to be carefully identified and treated for underlying depressive disorders.Patients with depressive disorders are also often at risk for negativity and suicidality and need to be carefully evaluated and prevented.

The treatment of depression includes medication, psychotherapy, physical therapy, rehabilitation therapy and so on.Depression is not scary, it is as preventable and treatable as most diseases. We can examine and check our emotions from time to time, and we can always ask ourselves a few questions: Have you been in a good mood lately?Is there any pressure?If so is it work, is it family life, or are there problems with relationships?Is there a stress response?

I hope more people understand depression, correctly recognize and scientifically cope with this disease, early detection and early treatment, actively seek professional help, and be the first person responsible for their own mental health!A large number of clinical practice has proved that cured patients can completely restore complete social function and see the rainbow of life again!