Depression is the most common psychological disorder in today’s society, characterized by continuous and long-term feelings of sadness as the main clinical feature, and is the most important type of modern psychological disorder.
Clinically, it can be seen that feelings of sadness and unhappiness with reality, prolonged feelings of low mood and depression, starting from being gloomy and unhappy to eventually feeling extremely sad and hopeless, with feelings of inferiority, pain, pessimism, and world-weariness, feeling that living each day is torturing oneself in despair, being negative, avoiding, and eventually even inclining towards suicide and suicidal behaviors. Patients may experience somatic symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath.
They only want to lie in bed every day, not wanting to do anything, experiencing significant anxiety; in severe cases, hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking (speech) may occur, which are symptoms of schizophrenia.
According to statistics, the number of people in China suffering from depression has reached approximately 54 million currently, showing a gradual upward trend in the four national surveys, especially among women.
Many people feel: they had never heard of depression from childhood to adulthood, but in the recent decade, the number of people around them suffering from depression has been increasing, and even their cheerful family and friends may become depressed at any time.
There are two main explanations for this:
1. Lack of past diagnosis
This may be partly true, as regardless of the past, there have been terms such as “melancholia” and “qi depression,” and since modern times, the numerous diagnoses of “neurasthenia” and “neurosis” have also implied depression as a long-standing problem.
2. Broadening the diagnosis of depression
In the past, doctors believed that only severe mental illnesses required diagnosis, but nowadays it is generally believed that even mild emotional issues require diagnosis and treatment. This change is not just because of a shift in doctors’ perspectives but also because depression has indeed had a greater impact on modern people. The increase in depression patients is not solely due to an increase in the diagnosis of depression, but also because modern life has introduced many factors that easily lead to depression. For example, high work pressure can cause feelings of despair; complex interpersonal relationships can lead to anxiety; fast-paced living can result in fatigue, all of which can lead to emotional issues.
1. “I feel useless”: Depression patients usually self-deprecate, believing they are worthless, and even feel inadequate in everyday life tasks.
2. “I can’t concentrate”: Attention deficits are a common symptom of depression, and patients may find it difficult to focus and complete daily tasks.
3. “I feel tired and powerless”: Depression patients often feel physically and mentally fatigued and unable to muster the energy to do things.
4. “I feel depressed and hopeless”: Depression patients often fall into negative emotions, feeling hopeless and despondent about the future.
5. “I want to give up everything”: Depression patients may feel disillusioned and disappointed with life, wanting to escape or give up everything.
The recovery from depression is influenced by many factors: active treatment, self-rescue, family support, environmental factors, and physical constitution.
Treatment, self-rescue, and family support play a decisive role, while the latter factors are not direct influencers and can almost be negligible.
Why do many depression patients struggle to recover? It’s not that they can’t really recover, but rather due to the lack of a proactive treatment environment. If they don’t actively self-rescue and their family members lack knowledge and companionship in this regard, the patient’s condition can prolong indefinitely, leading to a lengthy course of illness.
Assuming that we actively self-rescue, cooperate with treatment, and family members understand the condition and provide supportive care with empathy and wisdom, the patient’s recovery will be rapid and smooth.
Depression is influenced by various factors, such as physiological, genetic, psychological, and social environmental factors, with decreased will to act, thought disorders, low mood, and impaired cognitive function as its main characteristics.
Due to the multiple triggering factors of depression that cannot be entirely avoided in daily life, the disease cannot be completely cured. However, after undergoing antidepressant treatment, most patients will experience a significant alleviation or reduction in depressive symptoms, allowing them to return to a state of normal life.
Nevertheless, a small percentage of patients may still experience recurrent episodes or chronic long-term episodes despite standard treatment.
Overall, patients with depression need to seek medical attention early, engage in active treatment, self-regulation, and social support efforts. Although the recovery process may be lengthy and challenging, as long as patients actively cooperate with treatment and persistently make efforts, they can gradually return to normal life.
