How to explain mild depression

Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
Updated on September 20, 2024
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During the guidance process for patients with mild depression, cognitive behavioral therapy can be used. Cognitively speaking, the patient's low mood is caused by negative cognitions about themselves, the world, and the future, which we call the cognitive triad. They feel incompetent, worthless, and disliked in regards to themselves. They perceive the world as incapable or negative. Regarding the future, they feel unable to succeed and see themselves as failures, among other expressions. Therefore, the patient exhibits irrational and distorted cognitions. By observing these irrational cognitive patterns, we guide the patient to look for evidence, seek alternative explanations, make predictions, judgments, and responses, and resolve internal conflicts of thoughts through reality check methods, ultimately alleviating low moods. Additionally, behavioral methods, such as organizing a good life schedule and engaging in interesting activities, can also be used to enhance the patient's sense of pleasure and control, thereby improving their mood and ultimately achieving therapeutic effects.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
55sec home-news-image

Is depression considered a mental illness?

Depression is clinically classified as a mental illness, specifically a type of mood disorder. Its main clinical manifestations include low mood, slow thought processes, reduced volitional activity, fatigue, lack of interest, lack of pleasure, often accompanied by sleep disturbances, changes in weight, changes in sexual desire, and low self-esteem. Patients often feel fatigued and dissatisfied throughout the day, and their attention may decline. They may experience feelings of guilt, worthlessness, futility, and despair. It is not uncommon for patients to have thoughts or behaviors of self-harm or suicide. Thus, depression is a mental disorder that requires systematic antidepressant treatment once diagnosed. Effective treatment outcomes can often be achieved through a combination of medication, psychotherapy, and physiotherapy.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
1min 9sec home-news-image

How to explain mild depression

During the guidance process for patients with mild depression, cognitive behavioral therapy can be used. Cognitively speaking, the patient's low mood is caused by negative cognitions about themselves, the world, and the future, which we call the cognitive triad. They feel incompetent, worthless, and disliked in regards to themselves. They perceive the world as incapable or negative. Regarding the future, they feel unable to succeed and see themselves as failures, among other expressions. Therefore, the patient exhibits irrational and distorted cognitions. By observing these irrational cognitive patterns, we guide the patient to look for evidence, seek alternative explanations, make predictions, judgments, and responses, and resolve internal conflicts of thoughts through reality check methods, ultimately alleviating low moods. Additionally, behavioral methods, such as organizing a good life schedule and engaging in interesting activities, can also be used to enhance the patient's sense of pleasure and control, thereby improving their mood and ultimately achieving therapeutic effects.

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Written by Zhou Yan
Geriatrics
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Dietary Cautions for Geriatric Depression

Patients with geriatric depression currently find antidepressant medications and electroconvulsive therapy to be quite effective. However, due to lack of appetite and poor mental responsiveness in these patients, their nutritional status often remains unfulfilled. Therefore, we should enhance the dietary nutrition of elderly patients with depression. The focus should be on protein-rich foods such as eggs, shrimp, fish, chicken, and duck. Additionally, attention should be given to including roughage in the diet, ensuring daily fruit intake and vegetables in every meal.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
1min 2sec home-news-image

How is depression treated?

Depression treatment in clinical settings includes self-adjustment, psychotherapy, medication, and physical therapy. Patients with mild depression can base their treatment on self-adjustment, which includes exercising, distracting attention, talking to others, etc. Psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy, is recommended as the first choice of treatment. It helps patients identify automatic thoughts and reconstruct the cognitive irrationality system among other methods. Furthermore, patients with moderate to severe depression are primarily treated with medication, particularly with serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as paroxetine, sertraline, and fluoxetine, which are commonly used in clinical settings. Additionally, physical therapy mainly involves non-convulsive electroshock and transcranial magnetic stimulation as major treatment methods. (Specific medications should be used under the guidance of a physician.)

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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How to diagnose mild depression?

For the clinical examination of mild depression, it is first necessary to thoroughly understand the patient’s onset, development, evolution, and treatment of depression. Furthermore, detailed communication must be conducted with the patient concerning consciousness, sensations, perceptions, thinking, attention, emotional willpower, self-control, and other aspects. It is important to comprehend the patient's overall mental and psychological condition, then combine this with the results of corresponding scales or exclude other conditions through diagnostic auxiliary examinations to make a comprehensive judgment. Particularly, the content of the psychiatric examination for the patient is an important aspect in determining mild depression. By integrating the aforementioned information, it is often possible to clearly diagnose the symptoms of mild depression, which is very meaningful for the subsequent treatment.