The mechanism by which depression arises is that some people have psychological qualities that predispose them to depression, once a trigger event occurs. And with negative psychology and coping styles, short-term depression may translate into long-term depression.
In this article, we will explain the theories about depression in terms of its symptoms, triggers, depression-prone psychological qualities, and common treatments in turn.
People who are depressed tend to be pessimistic and feel hopeless and worthless inside.
People feel hopeless when they don't get what they want or when they can't avoid negative outcomes. Hopelessness causes frustration and withdrawal. Frustration and withdrawal are two important aspects of depression.
People feel worthless when they believe they are weak, depraved, or worthless. Feelings of worthlessness are also an important aspect of depression.
Major depressive disorder is characterized by the following: pessimism; impaired motivation (loss of interest or pleasure in most daily activities); feelings of worthlessness and self-blame; poor appetite and significant weight loss; insomnia or excessive sleepiness; significant slowing down (bradykinesia) or agitation; reduced ability to think and focus attention, forgetfulness; recurrent thoughts of death and suicidal ideation or behavior.
Two things to note about depressive symptoms:
1. It is common to have depressive reactions to loss and disappointment , and most such reactions are self-restrained and lessen within a few days or weeks. It is in a few cases that these reactions persist or intensify until they seriously interfere with normal life.
2. Depression is not always bad. Mildly depressed people, despite their more negative perceptions, show a lot of objectivity and realism in laboratory tests that is beyond the average person.
A trigger for depression is a negative event that causes depression, such as the loss of a source of love, security, identity, or self-worth. Examples include the death of a loved one, suffering from a serious illness that has not been cured for a long time, falling out of love, losing a job, and failing a doctoral exam.
When a negative event occurs, there is a high probability that people with depression-prone psychological qualities will become depressed. The following two categories are depression-prone psychological qualities.
1. Low self-esteem is a predisposing factor to depression.
2 . Vulnerable self-esteem is a high risk factor for depression. Self-esteem fluctuates easily when the sense of self-worth is based solely on current achievements. Tests have shown that students with fickle self-esteem are more likely to be anxious when faced with negative life events than those with stable self-esteem. A person who feels good about himself only in good times does not have truly high self-esteem. Fickle self-esteem is a form of low self-esteem.
3. have an excessive need for interpersonal dependence and social approval. They desperately seek the approval and recognition of others, and when this pursuit fails, depression arises. Based on clinical experience, Biblin identified three self-ideals commonly held by individuals with depressive tendencies: an excessive need to be loved, appreciated, praised, and respected; an excessive need to be strong, capable, successful, and independent; and an excessive need to be good, loving, moral, and chaste.
People's sense of self-worth usually stems from their social roles, and depression occurs when they can no longer play the social roles for which they are assigned a higher value, and when no other alternative source of self-worth exists.
A comparison of the depressive tendencies of the two personality types is as follows:
1. Beck's cognitive theory of depression: people are prone to depression if they have overly rigid ideas about the self and the world. They originate in early childhood and refer to unrealistic, perfectionist standards that people use to judge themselves. These absolutist, contractual ideas cause a person to process information in a negative, distorted way when corresponding life events occur. False information processing tendencies include: selective extraction; arbitrary inferences; generalizations; and absolutist or either/or thinking. The depressed person caught in negative thinking sees reality as distorted and is unable to realize that his negative interpretation is wrong.
2. Depression arises when there is a sense of not being in control of important life events and the categorization of these events as internal, stable, all-encompassing causes. This perception turns to hopelessness and produces hopelessness depression (symptoms are loss of interest in life, negative cognition and sadness, despair). If this event is also attributed to internal causes, depression is accompanied by low self-esteem.
3. Negative thinking and depression are causal to each other. Negative thinking can trigger depression, and depression can trigger negative thinking. Rather than specific cognitive factors causing depression, cognitive processes can limit or prolong the depressive response.
When negative emotions activate negative thinking associated with the self, depression becomes more severe and lasts longer. People who meditate on their emotions are also more likely to perpetuate depression.
Depressed ways of thinking affect their behavior, and behavior reinforces depression, constituting a vicious cycle.
Happy people are usually in a state of "mindfulness", concentrating on a task that challenges them without overwhelming them. For example, games, gardening, socializing, and crafting produce varying degrees of mindfulness.
Hobby therapy is the process of cultivating a number of interests that create a stream of mindfulness and distraction, which in turn dilutes negative emotions such as sadness and hopelessness, and re-creates a sense of self-worth.
The advantage of interest therapy is that it can be self-medicated without the use of professionals. And it is easier to implement than other self-therapy methods. For example, the therapy of strengthening communication with others, if the depressed patient is good at communicating with others or has a close partner, he may not be depressed; since he is already depressed, suggesting him to strengthen his communication with others may not be easy to implement; and the people around him may not pay enough attention to depression and do not cooperate with the patient's treatment.
Therefore, interest therapy is a very effective self-therapy. Here are a few interest therapies:
Immersive games can make people forget sadness and hopelessness for a while, and games can easily shape a sense of achievement and build value. All of these can help alleviate depression. However, the disadvantages of games are that the sense of value provided is short-lived, it is difficult to build relationships, and it is easy to become addicted. Therefore, games can be used as a transitional program, i.e., using games to replace depression in the short term and replacing games with other slow replacements in the long term.
Square dancing can help you find the collective immediately, build new interpersonal relationships, and gain a sense of identity and fulfillment. It is effective for fighting depression and loneliness and losing weight.
Solving puzzles and playing chess can also generate mind flow and bring a sense of accomplishment. People with strong logical minds can try to relieve depression by brushing up on math problems or playing chess.
Writing can vent negative emotions, soothe the mood, organize thoughts, and persist in writing can also get a certain sense of achievement, which can also relieve depression.
1. Trigger internal change through behavior (behavior affects attitude, such as playing the role of a confident person in a hypothetical scenario will gradually become confident);
2. Break the vicious cycle of self-defeat formed by negative attitudes and behaviors: the training of behavioral skills (exercise how to socialize the skills), the positive experience of the change of the self-perception (after letting them do something successful, such as dating, tell them that they are great), and the positive experience of change. such as a date, telling them that they are great and convincing them that they are indeed capable of doing it), and changing negative thought patterns (noticing the externalities of failure).
3. Attribute improvements in people's situations to internal factors (e.g. telling someone who has succeeded in losing weight that their success is a result of their own persistence and hard work, not external to attending a weight loss class).
4. Improve thinking through persuasion. The therapist, because of his or her image as an expert and trusted communicator, can attempt to facilitate the adoption of a healthier way of thinking by the visitor through persuasive argumentation and the asking of questions.
1. Medication includes antipsychotic medications for schizophrenia as well as antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.
2. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in treating depression, but it is controversial.
Mild depression can be treated by self-treatment of depression through interest therapy, psychotherapy, more contact with the outside world (green, fresh air environment), physical exercise, emotional catharsis.
Severe depression is recommended to seek medical help and use professional treatment. And self-therapy can be an important complementary therapy.
Note: The theories described in this article are based on the following three books: Brown's Self, David Myers' Social Psychology, and Zimbardo's Psychology and Life.
I am not a doctor, just a depressed person and a fan of psychology, this article is for reference only.