Depression is a disease involving physiology, psychology, emotion and thought. It not only affects normal life, but also affects the feelings between people and their views on things. Depression is different from temporary depression. Without effective treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months or even years. Symptoms include:
(1) Feel sad and empty.
(2) Lack of interest or interest in various activities.
(3) Feeling worthless or guilty.
(4) Loss of appetite and weight loss.
(5) Insomnia or lethargy.
(6) easy to fatigue.
(7) unable to concentrate.
(8) Have thoughts of death or suicide.
Cases of depression may not meet all the above symptoms at the same time.
Reason:
There are many reasons for depression, such as losing relatives or suffering failure; However, in many cases, brain imaging technology points out that the central nervous system, which is responsible for regulating the mood, thinking, sleep, appetite and behavior of patients with depression, cannot function normally, and the necessary neurotransmitters (chemical elements that communicate with nerve cells) are also out of balance. It is generally believed that both serotonin and norepinephrine play a key role in causing depression. Studies have shown that both chemical elements can affect a person's mood.
The reason for easily feeling depressed may be caused by genes, which interact with psychological factors and external environment (for example, the loss of relatives or major changes in living conditions). Diseases such as heart disease, stroke or cancer can also cause depressive symptoms.
Depression is not exclusive to any particular group, it may happen to anyone, and there may be people with mental and behavioral disorders no matter what region, country or nationality. Mental disorders can also occur at any time in the life cycle, whether men or women, rich or poor, rural or urban. The view that industrialized countries or the rich are prone to mental disorders is wrong. It is also incorrect to say that mental disorders are not easy to occur in rural life with backward pace of modernization.
About 400 million people in the world suffer from mental or neurological diseases, among which about 1.2 1 100 million people suffer from depression. These obstacles are listed as the fifth of the world's top ten disability diseases, which have caused great social and economic pressure on individuals, families and governments. By 2020, according to the current demographic data and epidemic trend, the proportion of depression in the total diseases will increase to 5.7%, and it will become the second place in Dalys (Disability Adjusted Life Year), second only to anemia, and will leap to the first place in developed areas.
Diagnosis:
The first step in treating depression is a comprehensive health examination. General health examination should include a review of the medical history of individuals and family members, as well as a comprehensive physical and psychological examination to determine whether language and thinking patterns are affected. Depression is a disease that is difficult to diagnose. Most patients with depression seldom seek help from doctors, because it is generally believed that depression is a personal weakness, and patients also believe that the symptoms of depression will disappear over time, or they are too helpless to ask others for help. Even if they turn to a doctor, they are usually not diagnosed with depression. Therefore, only a few patients with depression can get proper treatment. Depression is a real disease, not a weakness of personality, and will not disappear by itself. It is very important to identify depression and encourage patients to seek treatment.
Negative effects:
The adverse effects of depression not only happen to patients, but also affect their family and friends. Serious may make the victim unable to live a normal life, cause obstacles to work, study, diet and sleep, and be unable to enjoy any kind of happy activities. Indeed, depression can make people feel weak. According to the records, nearly 65,438+02% patients felt weak. On the other hand, depression will also increase the economic burden of individuals, families or the whole community. Some economic burdens are obvious and can be calculated, while others are incalculable. The economic burden that can be estimated includes the demand for health and social services, unemployment, reduced productivity, the impact on family members and caregivers, different degrees of crime, public safety risks and the negative impact of suicide.
The relationship between depression and other diseases;
Besides some physical diseases, such as stroke and cancer, there are also some psychological diseases complicated with depression, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). Early diagnosis and treatment of patients with other diseases will be very helpful to the recovery of overall health.
Treatment:
The purpose of treatment is to relieve the symptoms of depression. Effective treatment can relieve symptoms for more than six months and restore the original normal life function. According to the treatment effect, the symptoms will be relieved to varying degrees, and some may only be partially relieved.
Patients with depression will have considerable differences and therapeutic effects due to the severity of their illness. According to the needs of different patients, antidepressant therapy, psychotherapy or comprehensive therapy will have different effects.
Antidepressant
Antidepressants are drugs that can be purchased by prescription to relieve depressive symptoms. Researchers estimate that about 50% ~ 60% of patients with depression can be controlled and relieved by drug treatment.
Non-drug therapy
Psychotherapy or "talk" therapy, including cognitive/behavioral therapy, individual therapy, psychoanalysis therapy and supportive psychotherapy, is usually used to treat depression. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), another recently developed alternative therapy for ECT, can be used as effective treatments for critically ill patients.
What are the early symptoms of depression?
Depression is mainly manifested as depression. During this period, at least the following four symptoms appeared and lasted for more than two weeks. Suggest seeing a doctor.
1. The degree of depression varies, from mild bad mood to sadness, pessimism and despair. Patients feel heavy, life is boring, unhappy, unhappy, miserable and unable to extricate themselves. Some patients may also be anxious, excitable and nervous.
2. Losing interest is one of the common symptoms of patients with depression. Lost the enthusiasm and fun of life and work in the past, and lost interest in anything. I don't feel happy with my family, I don't care about my past hobbies, I often live alone, alienate my relatives and friends, and avoid socializing. Patients often complain of "no feelings", "emotional numbness" and "unhappy"
3. Energy loss, fatigue, washing, dressing and other small things in life are all difficult and difficult. Patients often use "nervous breakdown" and "frustrated ball" to describe their illness.
4. Low self-evaluation: Patients tend to belittle their abilities too much and treat their present, past and future with a critical, negative and negative attitude. This is neither good nor right. They say they are useless and their future is dark. Strong sense of self-blame, guilt, uselessness, worthlessness and helplessness. In severe cases, the concepts of self-guilt and hypochondriasis may appear. 5. The patients are obviously, persistently and generally depressed, with difficulty in concentration, memory loss, dull brain, blocked thinking and slow action, but some patients show anxiety, tension and agitation.
6. negative pessimism: I feel very painful, pessimistic and desperate. I feel that life is a burden, and it is not worth nostalgia. Seeking liberation by death will produce strong suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
7. Physical or biological symptoms: patients with depression often have biological symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, sleep disorder, sexual dysfunction, and day-and-night mood swings, which are very common, but not in every case:?
Loss of appetite and weight loss: most patients have symptoms of loss of appetite and poor appetite, and delicious food is no longer attractive. Patients who don't think about tea or rice or eat tasteless often lose weight.
Sexual hypofunction: Sexual hyposexuality can occur in the early stage of the disease, and impotence can occur in men, while female patients lack sexual attraction.
Sleep disorder: A typical sleep disorder is waking up early, 2-3 hours earlier than usual, and then falling into a sad atmosphere.
Diurnal change: the patient's mood changes day and night. Fall into depression in the morning or morning, get better in the afternoon or evening, and be able to have a short conversation and eat. The incidence of diurnal variation is about 50%.