Recently, depression has attracted widespread attention from society. Long term lack of happiness may lead to depression, but people who appear happy may also suffer from depression. What is depression and what is the difference between depressive emotions and depression? Feng Yuan, Chief Physician of Beijing Anding Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University and Director of the Office of the National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, recently gave an interview to Xinhua News Agency, explaining in detail the characteristics, core symptoms, and common cognitive misconceptions of depression, helping everyone better understand depression and effectively cope with its troubles.
Depression is a mental illness characterized by significant and persistent low mood as its main clinical feature. Patients can exhibit symptoms such as emotional depression, melancholy, grief, and pessimism. Feng Yuan said that the core symptoms of depression include low mood, loss of interest and pleasure, reduced activity, and decreased energy. In addition, there are also manifestations such as slowed cognitive association speed, slow response, and avoidance of social interaction. Other common symptoms include decreased attention, decreased self-evaluation and confidence, self blame and a sense of worthlessness, a bleak and pessimistic outlook on the future, thoughts or behaviors of self harm or suicide, sleep disorders, and decreased appetite.
Online 'self-service' depression test cannot be used as a diagnostic basis
In recent years, with the rapid development of the economy and society, people's pace of life and work pressure have significantly increased, and mental health issues among the public have become increasingly prominent.
So, is long-term depression easy to lead to depression? What is the difference between depressive mood and depression, and under what circumstances do you need to see a doctor?
Feng Yuan stated that depression is a negative emotion that often manifests as disgust, pain, shame, and inferiority complex. It is an emotion that many people have experienced and a normal and natural psychological phenomenon. Depression belongs to the category of diseases. Long term emotional suppression during certain special periods may evolve into depression as its severity increases. This kind of low mood depression manifests in a certain form, duration, and severity, such as suicidal ideation, symptoms that affect social function, inability to study or work, and the need for timely medical treatment. Further evaluation and diagnosis will be conducted by professional doctors, who will provide corresponding medication, psychological, and even physical therapy.
Can various self testing scales for depression currently emerging online be used as diagnostic criteria?
Feng Yuan stated that self testing for depression usually refers to using a depression self-assessment scale for screening depression, which can preliminarily estimate the likelihood of the tester being depressed. However, the diagnosis of depression requires a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors, including social and psychological factors, clinical manifestations, mental examinations, scale scores, laboratory test results, imaging test results, etc. Only professional psychiatrists can make a reliable diagnosis of depression.
