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Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
About me
Engaged in mental health work for nearly 10 years, and have undergone further training at the Shandong Provincial Mental Health Center. Honored with the title of Skillful Mental Health Worker in Shandong Province.
Proficient in diseases
Schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, depression, postpartum depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, hypochondria, bipolar disorder, mania, postpartum psychosis, phobia.
Voices
Where is the best place to massage for depression?
The massage points for depression vary according to different diagnostic types of the condition in Chinese medicine. For example, for patients with liver depression and spleen deficiency, massage can be given at Taichong, Fenglong, Zusanli, and Tiantu. For patients with liver depression and qi stagnation, points such as Baihui, Yintang, Shenmen, Neiguan, and Taichong can be massaged. In cases of heart and spleen deficiencies, the massage points include Shenmen, Xinshu, Pishu, Sanyinjiao, Zusanli, and Zhangmen. For patients with kidney deficiency and liver depression, key points are Taichong, Qimen, Neiguan, Danzhong, and Guanyuan. As for patients with heavy damp-heat in liver and gallbladder, massage points like Xingjian, Sanyinjiao, and Zhongji can be selected during massage.
Is moderate depression serious?
Patients with moderate depression are quite serious. The core manifestations in clinical practice include low mood, inability to feel happy, reduced energy, and predominantly negative thinking. These symptoms often lead to a decline in the patient's social and occupational functioning, affecting their work, study, life, social interactions, and family life. Patients typically present with a lack of desire to groom themselves or pay attention to their attire, and they often have a dull gaze and an unpleasant emotional experience. There is generally a lack of energy and interest. In terms of cognitive thinking, they often exhibit feelings of worthlessness, pessimism, guilt, uselessness, or despair. Behaviorally, they often show psychomotor retardation, meaning they walk and act slowly, think sluggishly, cannot relax, and sometimes exhibit symptoms of restlessness.
Can people with mild depression drink alcohol?
Patients with mild depression are generally advised not to drink alcohol, especially those who have sleep problems and rely on drinking to solve these issues; they are strongly urged to abstain completely. Patients with mild depression may experience mood swings, slow cognitive responses, and an inability to feel joy. They might have difficulty falling asleep or frequently wake up during sleep. Some patients might attempt to alleviate their symptoms or improve their depressed, suppressed mood through drinking. The adverse consequences of this are an increase in the severity of depression and ultimately the potential development of a substance dependency on alcohol, which negatively impacts the treatment of depression. Therefore, for patients with mild depression, it is clinically advised to forbid or reduce alcohol consumption, with abstinence being the best treatment approach.
Do patients with mild depression need to be hospitalized?
Patients with mild depression can choose inpatient treatment or outpatient treatment. The main decision depends on the communication between the patient, their family, and medical professionals. Patients with mild depression have relatively mild depressive symptoms, so psychological therapy is primarily used, with pharmacotherapy and physical therapy serving as supplementary treatments. Psychological therapy mainly employs cognitive-behavioral therapy to improve the patient’s unreasonable beliefs and alleviate emotional stress. This includes identifying automatic thoughts, recognizing the irrationality of cognition, and employing reality testing, ultimately aiming to improve the patient's symptoms. Pharmacological treatment primarily uses serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and patients can adhere to a regular medication schedule at home during outpatient treatment periods. Physical therapy consists mainly of transcranial magnetic stimulation, which can be administered either as an outpatient or inpatient treatment. The final treatment choice should involve comprehensive communication with the patient's family and physicians to make an informed decision.
Will mild depression get better?
Mild depression can achieve good therapeutic effects. Patients with mild depression may experience low mood, slow thinking, and decreased volition, but its severity is relatively mild. These patients primarily show lack of concentration, or slightly lower self-evaluation, and abnormalities in diet and sleep. Generally, the overall mental state of the patients is still relatively good. Therefore, in clinical practice, the main treatment for patients with mild depression is psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy, to improve the patients' distorted and unreasonable cognition, ultimately leading to cognitive reconstruction and achieving good therapeutic effects. Antidepressant drugs can also be used for systematic treatment, such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which have an effective cure rate of over 85%.
Can mild depression recur?
Patients with mild depression also have the possibility of relapse. Clinical research investigations have found that systematic antidepressant treatment can lead to clinical recovery in 85% of patients. However, even with persistent and standardized treatment, nearly one-fifth of patients still experience relapse. This signifies that some patients may have a relapse rate exceeding 70% if they cease treatment. For those who recover, there is still a one-fifth chance of relapse within six months, and nearly half might relapse within two years after the initial episode. Therefore, relapse is a significant challenge for depression patients. Thus, treatment should be systematic and standard, including pharmacotherapy. Additionally, psychotherapy plays a crucial role in treating depression by improving patients' irrational cognitive patterns and adjusting their cognitive reconstruction systems, ultimately achieving a healed state.
Symptoms of depression
Patients with symptoms of depression often experience a persistent low mood throughout most of the day, along with a loss or decrease in interests and pleasure. They commonly experience fatigue, an increase in feelings of exhaustion, and more. Additionally, these patients may have poor concentration, low self-esteem, decreased self-confidence, a sense of worthlessness, self-blame, and a bleak outlook on life with no perceived future, including suicidal thoughts. There are also significant changes in their sleeping and eating habits. Therefore, if these symptoms persist for more than two weeks and adversely impact the patient’s work, studies, lifestyle, or social abilities, it should be considered indicative of depression. Thus, once diagnosed, systematic and standardized treatment should be administered to prevent the worsening of the condition.
How long does it take for depression to get better?
The treatment of depression is generally divided into three stages: acute phase treatment, continuation phase treatment, and maintenance phase treatment. The complete recovery from depression depends on the individual characteristics of the patient. The acute phase treatment usually lasts one to three months, mainly focusing on controlling the symptoms related to depression. Additionally, during the continuation phase treatment, the medication period generally lasts four to nine months, and its main goal is to maintain the stability of the patient's condition and prevent relapse of the disease. As for the maintenance phase treatment, the duration of treatment is to be determined. Typically, the duration is one to two years after the first onset, three to five years after the second onset, and for patients who have had more than three episodes, it is recommended to maintain a low-dose medication treatment to prevent recurrence of the disease.
Where to get a diagnosis for depression?
The diagnosis of depression often recommends consulting with a psychiatry or psychology department for confirmation. Clinically, depression is categorized as a mental and psychological disorder, primarily characterized by low mood, slow thinking, and reduced willpower. Patients usually lack interest and pleasure, feel fatigued, self-blame, valuelessness, incapability, have low self-esteem, and poor concentration. They often feel that life is meaningless, harboring thoughts or behaviors of self-harm and suicide. They view the future as bleak, sad, helpless, and hopeless. Patients generally exhibit poor eating and sleeping habits, and there is a noticeable decline in sexual function. Therefore, in clinical settings, if the aforementioned symptoms persist for over two weeks and interfere with work, study, daily life, social, and occupational functions, a clear diagnosis is required to develop a treatment plan involving medication, psychotherapy, and physical therapy.
How to self-rescue from depression
Patients with depression can self-help through self-adjustment or seek help from a doctor. Clinically, the method of self-adjustment mainly involves exercise, which is also called behavioral activation training in psychology. Exercise can relax the muscles throughout the body. Additionally, exercise can stimulate the brain to release the "happiness element" endorphins, which have a significant improving effect on depression and anxiety. Other methods include venting and shifting attention. Venting typically involves expressing feelings through spoken or written words to others, especially close friends and family. By expressing these feelings, depressive emotions can also be articulated. Shifting attention, clinically, involves engaging in personal interests such as painting, fishing, or listening to music, which can increase pleasure and enhance motivation. Alternatively, seeking help from a doctor usually involves psychotherapy and medication, which often yield good results.