Methods 1: Diagnosis of depression.
1, record the emotional changes in these two weeks. If you are often depressed, such as often feeling sad, losing interest in beautiful things or no longer feeling happy, then you may suffer from depression. People with depression will have these symptoms most of the day, and the symptoms may last for at least two weeks. The above symptoms will last for more than two weeks, and the situation will be good and bad. This condition is called "recurrent affective disorder". For people with depression, these symptoms are not just "bad luck today", but serious emotional changes, which will affect their social and work. People with depression even need to take a break from school. Similarly, these symptoms will make patients no longer keen on their hobbies or activities, such as sports, handicrafts or visiting relatives and friends.
If you are experiencing a major event in your life recently, such as the death of a loved one, you may also have symptoms of depression, but this is not the clinical depression. Consult a professional doctor or therapist to find out whether you really have depressive symptoms or just typical temporary depression.
2. Pay attention to other symptoms of depression. In addition to depression and loss of interest in things, people with depression may also show other symptoms, which will also appear most of the day and last for at least two weeks. Review your emotional changes in the past two weeks to see if it meets the following three or more typical symptoms of depression. Specific symptoms include: obvious loss of appetite or obvious weight loss.
Abnormal sleep (difficulty in falling asleep or obvious increase in sleep)
I always feel tired and weak.
Often feel uneasy, or activities are obviously reduced.
Feeling worthless or overly guilty.
Difficult to concentrate, often hesitant.
Repeated thoughts of death or suicide, attempted or planned attempted suicide.
If you or people around you are suicidal, please seek help immediately. If you or someone you know is suicidal, please call the police immediately or go to the nearest hospital for help. Don't try to solve it privately without the guidance of professionals.
4. Distinguish between depression and "sadness". Sadness is a series of complete emotions, which may be caused by stress, life changes (including positive or negative changes) and even weather changes. The key to distinguish depression from sadness is to understand the severity and frequency of depression and symptoms. If you have had these symptoms for the past two weeks or more, you may be suffering from depression. Major changes in life, such as the death of a loved one, may trigger a series of symptoms similar to depression. An obvious difference between the two is that in the process of mourning, the living may recall the positive pictures of the deceased before his death and get pleasure from some specific activities. It is difficult for patients with depression to mobilize their happy mood to complete some normal activities.
Write down what you have done in the past few weeks. Make a list and record your daily activities, from going to work and attending classes to eating and bathing. Pay attention to the regularity between activities and whether the frequency of activities you are willing to complete is reduced. Use this form to determine whether you are involved in dangerous behavior. People with depression may engage in some dangerous behaviors, because they no longer care about their own living conditions and may need the care of others.
If you suffer from depression, it may be a difficult task for you. Take your time, don't worry, or find a trusted family member or friend to help you complete this form.
6. Ask people around you if you have noticed your emotional abnormality. Talk to your trusted family and friends and see if they have noticed your behavior changes. Personal emotional experience is very important, and so is the opinion of people who know you. Others may notice that you often cry for no reason, or you can't finish such a simple activity as taking a shower.
7. Ask your doctor if your physical condition is related to depression. There are some physiological diseases that can cause depressive symptoms, especially thyroid and diseases related to hormone secretion. Tell the doctor about your current situation and whether your depression is caused by your health. Some physiological diseases, especially lifelong diseases or chronic diseases, have a higher risk of depressive symptoms. In this case, patients should seek the help of relevant professional doctors to understand the source of depressive symptoms and work together to alleviate these symptoms.
Method 2: Seek professional assistance.
1. Choose a mental health expert. There are many types of psychotherapists, and the therapeutic techniques and specialties adopted by therapists in each professional direction are different. These include consulting psychotherapists, clinical psychotherapists and psychiatrists. You can choose one or more psychologists for treatment according to your own situation. Counseling Psychotherapist: Counseling Psychology is a therapeutic discipline, which focuses on the means of help to help people overcome difficulties in life. This treatment is divided into long-term treatment and short-term treatment. Treatment is aimed at personal problems and has a strong purpose. Therapists usually encourage patients to speak for themselves with careful questions, and they will pay attention to what patients say. As objective observers, these consultants help you distinguish key ideas and words. They will discuss these ideas with you more carefully and find out the psychological and environmental problems that may lead to depression.
Clinical Psychotherapist: Clinical Psychotherapists are good at using various tests to diagnose diseases, so they tend to pay more attention to psychopathology and behavioral insanity.
Psychiatrist: In the process of diagnosis and treatment, psychiatrists use psychotherapy to measure and test the patient's condition. If patients want to relieve symptoms through drugs, they often turn to psychiatrists for help. In most States and cities in the United States, only psychiatrists are qualified to prescribe, but now some States allow psychotherapists to prescribe.
2. Cross-reference. If you plan to do psychological counseling, you can refer to other people's opinions and suggestions. You can consult your relatives and friends, community leaders, community mental health center experts, employee assistance programs (if your company offers this program) or doctors. Other professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, also provide services to find local experts.
3. Find your own psychiatrist. Find a therapist who makes you feel a sense of belonging and relaxation. Bad counseling experience will make you depressed for a long time and miss valuable treatment opportunities. Remember, every mental health expert has his own characteristics, so he must find the one that suits him and stick to the treatment. Therapists usually encourage patients to speak for themselves with careful questions, and they will pay attention to what patients say. It is really nerve-racking to open your heart to the therapist at first, but most patients will naturally open the box slowly after a few minutes until they can't stop completely.
4. Make sure your therapist has a business license. Mental health experts must hold a license to engage in psychological counseling. In the United States, the home pages of national and state psychological committee associations have basic information about how to choose therapists. On this website, you can also learn about the business requirements of your state and city, and how to identify whether others hold licenses.
5. Check your medical insurance. Although the law stipulates that mental illness must be included in the coverage of medical insurance as a so-called "physical illness", different insurance types may still affect the types and times of treatment for patients. Before receiving treatment, be sure to consult your health insurance company repeatedly to get some reference information. This will also ensure payment for your treatment.
6. Ask your therapist about different treatments. In fact, there are three psychotherapy methods that have been recognized as having significant and lasting effects on the treatment of depression patients, namely, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy and behavioral-psychiatric therapy. Of course, there are other treatments that are quite effective. Your therapist will choose the most appropriate treatment according to your situation. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): The therapeutic goal of CBT is to challenge and change the thoughts, attitudes and preconceived ideas that cause depressive symptoms, so as to treat and adapt to unhealthy behaviors.
Interpersonal therapy (IPT): Interpersonal therapy focuses on interpersonal problems that may lead to depressive symptoms, such as life changes, social isolation and social disability. Interpersonal therapy has a significant effect on depression caused by specific events (such as the death of relatives and friends).
Behavioral-psychotherapy: Behavioral therapy aims to arrange pleasant physical and mental activities for patients, and at the same time minimize the influence of unpleasant experiences through various means. Specific treatment methods include activity arrangement, self-control therapy, social skills training, problem solving and so on.
7. Be patient. The effect of psychological counseling will not be immediate. To have a long-term curative effect, regular consultation is needed, and the whole course of treatment will take at least a few months. Give the treatment some time and don't give up hope too early.
Method 3: Ask about drugs.
1. Ask your psychiatrist for antidepressants. Antidepressants can affect the neurotransmitter system in the brain, thus counteracting the effects of neurotransmitters produced and/or utilized by the brain in the past. The classification criteria of antidepressants are mainly based on the neurotransmitters they affect. The most common antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic drugs. The names of widely used antidepressants can be searched on the antidepressant website. Psychiatrists will also choose appropriate drugs for patients according to their specific conditions.
Your psychiatrist may ask you to try several drugs first and then see which one works best. The same antidepressant has different effects on different patients, and even leads to the adverse effects of aggravating symptoms. Therefore, patients should communicate closely with therapists and record any negative or depressed emotional changes in time. Usually, switching to another antidepressant can improve.
2. Ask your psychiatrist about antipsychotic drugs. If antidepressants alone are ineffective, your therapist may suggest that you take antipsychotics. There are three commonly used antipsychotics, including aripiprazole, quetiapine and risperidone. There are also antidepressant/antipsychotic drugs (such as fluoxetine and olanzapine), which can further improve the efficacy of conventional antidepressants. If taking antidepressants alone is ineffective, these drugs can play a role in treating depression.
3. Psychotherapy and drug therapy are carried out at the same time. In order to maximize the therapeutic effect, patients should adhere to formal psychotherapy and take medicine on time.
4. Take medicine on time. Antidepressants slowly and gently adjust the chemical balance in the brain, so it takes some time to take effect. Generally speaking, taking antidepressants takes at least 3 months to achieve long-term treatment.
Method 4: Keep a diary.
1, and record the rules of emotional changes. Keep a diary to record anything that may affect mood, motivation, health and sleep quality and its laws. Diary can also help you deal with emotions and understand more deeply why specific things affect your feelings. If you need any guidance, you can consult books about keeping a diary. Some people in the market also teach how to keep a diary, and there are even special websites such as online diaries.
Try to keep a diary every day. Try to cultivate the habit of keeping a diary every day, even if it's only for a few minutes. Sometimes I want to write more, and sometimes I feel unmotivated or uninspired. Writing is an easier thing to write, so keep writing and see what helps.
3. Carry a pen and paper with you. Keep a diary or notebook with you, and easily record the present with a pen. You can also use the recording software that comes with your mobile phone, tablet computer or other portable devices instead.
You can write anything you want. Let words flow freely, even if they have no special meaning. Don't worry about spelling, grammar or style; I don't care what other people think.
5. If you want to share, share. You can keep the secret of your diary at will. If you feel it is necessary, you can also share some things in your diary with your family, friends or therapists. You can even start a blog. It all depends on you and your comfort in using the diary.
Method 5: Change your diet.
1, quit all foods that will aggravate depression. Processed foods, such as processed meat, chocolate, desserts, fried foods, processed grains and high-fat dairy products, are all recognized as foods that will aggravate depressive symptoms.
2. Eat more foods that can relieve depression. Foods that can relieve depressive symptoms include fruits, vegetables and fish. Increasing the intake of this kind of food can provide more nutrients and vitamins for the body and make it healthier.
3. Try Mediterranean diet therapy. The so-called Mediterranean diet therapy actually refers to the classic dishes in the Mediterranean region, emphasizing eating more fruits and vegetables, fish, nuts, beans and olive oil. This diet therapy also requires patients to drink as little as possible; Alcohol itself is a factor that easily leads to depression.
4. Increase the intake of omega-3 fatty acids and folic acid. Although there is no clear evidence that omega-3 fatty acids and folic acid have the efficacy of treating depression, omega-3 fatty acids and folic acid have synergistic effects with other therapies to some extent.
5. Monitor how diet affects mood. After eating a certain food, observe your emotional changes. If you find that your mood has obviously improved or deteriorated in a certain period of time, think about what you have eaten recently. Have you noticed the influence of certain foods on your mood? You don't have to keep a detailed record of every nutritional intake, but you should still pay attention to what you eat and how food affects your mood to avoid depression worsening.
Method 6: Pay attention to health.
1, consult a doctor or personal fitness trainer. Before starting a new exercise plan, you should carefully work out the most suitable exercise method according to your personal interests, body shape/physical strength and injury history (if any). You can assess your health by consulting a doctor or personal fitness trainer. A doctor or personal fitness trainer can help you understand what sports are safe and interesting, and give you the motivation to start fitness.
2. Start fitness exercise therapy. Exercise helps to mobilize emotions and prevent the recurrence of depression. Randomized controlled trials show that exercise is almost as effective as medication in the treatment of depression. Experts believe that exercise can improve the secretion of neurotransmitters in the body and help regulate sleep. One of the reasons why patients are encouraged to take exercise as a means to treat depression is that sports like running don't cost too much.
3. Use intelligent system to set exercise goals. Set goals according to the SMART principle. SMART principles include concreteness, measurability, realizability, reality and timeliness. These principles can help you enhance and consolidate the fun of achieving your exercise goals. Start with sustainable development and set goals. At the beginning, set yourself a simple goal and let yourself experience the pleasure of success as soon as possible. At the same time, you can also set yourself the next goal and cultivate self-confidence. If you think you can't exceed your physical limit (suppose you walk for 65,438+00 minutes every day), try to increase the frequency of exercise (for example, you walk for 65,438+00 minutes every day for a week, then a month, a year). See how long you can last.
4. Treat every exercise as progress. Treating every exercise as a part of emotional therapy is also a positive reflection of your willingness to improve and progress. Even a five-minute moderate-speed walk is better than no exercise at all. Do it at low intensity, and you will still feel that you are making progress and working hard to cure depression step by step.
5. Strengthen cardiopulmonary exercise. Cardiopulmonary exercises such as swimming, running and cycling are ideal core exercises for treating depression. Choose a sport with low joint pressure, such as swimming and cycling.
6. Exercise with friends. Discuss exercise with friends or family. They may encourage you to go outdoors, or go to the gym to exercise together. First of all, you should tell them that although you may not be easily encouraged, you will remember their little help.
Method 7: Other methods
1, get more sunshine. Some surveys show that increasing sunshine can improve mood. This effect is attributed to vitamin D, but there are other ways to increase vitamin D besides sunbathing. When you are outdoors, you don't have to do anything deliberately; Just sit quietly on the park bench and enjoy the warm sunshine. In areas with little sunshine in winter, therapists may use sunshine lamps to treat patients: the curative effect of sunshine lamps is basically the same as that of outdoor sunshine.
If you plan to walk in the sun for a long time, remember to wear sunscreen and sunglasses.
2. Get out. Tidying up the front and back gardens, walking or other outdoor activities are all good for you. Outdoor activities can be exercise or other activities for non-exercise purposes. Any activity in contact with fresh air and nature will help to calm the mind and relax the body and mind.
3. Find ways to release creativity. For a long time, many people have speculated that there may be a connection between creativity and depression. They think that depression is the "price" of creativity. However, a creative person is more likely to suffer from depression if he can't find a way to release his creativity. Write, draw, dance, try to find your own way to release creativity, and express your inner thoughts regularly.
Method 8: Alternative therapy
1, Hypericum chinense. Hypericum chinense is a mild substitute for depression. However, there is not a lot of data to show that the effect of Hypericum japonicum is greater than that of placebo. This medicine can be found in general natural health food stores. Please take it quantitatively and regularly according to the product guide.
Make sure to buy herbal supplements from reliable stores. The supervision of food and drug administration on manufacturers is relatively loose, and the purity and quality of health care products will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Hypericum products should not be taken with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Taking these two drugs at the same time will produce 5- hydroxytryptamine, which may lead to death in severe cases.
Taking Hypericum together with other drugs may reduce the effectiveness of the drug. Taking Hypericum may weaken the effects of the following drugs: oral contraceptives, antiretroviral drugs (such as AIDS drugs), anticoagulants (such as warfarin), hormone substitutes and immunosuppressants. If you need to take these drugs at the same time, please consult your family doctor in advance.
Because there is no supporting evidence to prove the effectiveness of Hypericum chinense treatment, the American Psychological Association does not recommend patients to treat Hypericum chinense as routine treatment.
The National Center for Alternative Medicine and Complementary Medicine advises patients to use family therapy drugs cautiously, and encourages patients to discuss and coordinate the safe use of family therapy drugs with doctors.
2. Adenylmethionine supplement. Another alternative supplement is S- adenosylmethionine (SAMe). SAMe is a natural molecule, and the lack of SAMe in human body is closely related to depression. SAMe can enter the human body by oral administration, intravenous injection or intramuscular injection, which is helpful to improve the SAMe content in the human body. SAMe's production technology is not strictly supervised by authoritative departments, and its function, efficacy and composition will vary according to different manufacturers.
Please take or inject regularly according to the product guide.
3. Acupuncture. Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy. Doctors insert fine needles into human acupoints to achieve the effect of dredging channels and activating collaterals. You can search the information of regular acupuncturists on the Internet, and you can also ask doctors for relevant information. Find out whether the medical insurance you buy covers acupuncture treatment.
The evidence about the therapeutic effect of acupuncture is not clear. A study shows that acupuncture can regulate the level of neuroprotective protein, and its therapeutic effect is similar to that of Prozac. Another study shows that acupuncture is as effective as psychotherapy. These studies have enhanced the credibility of the statement that acupuncture is used to treat depression, but more investigation and research are needed to clarify the actual effect of acupuncture.
Method 9: Instrumental therapy
1, electroshock therapy. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be used to treat patients with severe depression, depressive patients with suicidal tendency, insanity and catatonia, and other patients who are ineffective in treatment. Electroconvulsive therapy begins with mild anesthesia, and then several concussions are used to produce results. ECT is the most effective antidepressant therapy (ECT is effective for 70%-90% of patients).
The use of electroconvulsive therapy has also been restricted, such as the stigma and potential side effects of electroconvulsive therapy, including the impact on cardiovascular function and cognitive function (such as temporary amnesia).
2. Transcranial magnetic stimulation. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) uses magnetic coils to stimulate the brain. Its therapeutic effect has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and it can be used to treat patients with emotional disorders whose drugs are ineffective. Transcranial magnetic stimulation needs daily treatment for patients, which is difficult for ordinary patients to do.
3. Vagal nerve stimulation. Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is a relatively novel treatment technique, which requires implanting components in patients to stimulate vagus nerve (vagus nerve is a mixed nerve of spontaneous nervous system in human body). Vagal nerve stimulation can be used to treat depression patients who do not respond to drugs. The data on the effectiveness of vagus nerve stimulation is insufficient, and VNS needs to be implanted with medical components, which may lead to side effects that interfere with other medical components. ,
4. Deep brain electrical stimulation. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an experimental treatment, which has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. DBS needs to implant components in the patient's brain to stimulate the part of the brain called "area 25". There is not much information about the therapeutic effect of DBS. DBS, as an experimental treatment, is only suitable for patients with depression who have no effect by other treatment methods, or patients who have no other treatment options.
5. Neurofeedback therapy. Neurofeedback therapy aims to "retrain" the brain and adjust a certain pattern of brain activity in patients with depression. In recent years, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neurofeedback therapy has gradually developed into a new treatment form. Neurofeedback therapy is expensive and takes a lot of time. Neurofeedback therapy is not covered by most medical insurance.
It is suggested that the treatment process of each specific treatment method may be repeated between "treatment and failure" When participating in psychological counseling, patients don't have to be discouraged even if the previous one or two times didn't show the therapeutic effect; It just means that you need another kind of treatment.
Warning: If you or someone you know is suicidal, please call the police immediately or go to the nearest hospital for help. Don't try to solve it privately without the guidance of professionals.
Professional audit
Reviewer: Kirsten Schuder
Virginia mental health consultant with more than 20 years of professional service experience.
Review time: 2065438+200565438+1October 2 1.