Can people with depression occasionally feel happy?

Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
Updated on September 24, 2024
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Patients with depression may occasionally feel happy, but they predominantly experience low mood throughout most of their days. Patients perceive a significant and persistent sense of low spirits, pessimism, and despair. Their mood is such that they cannot feel joy, and they often seem easy to recognize by their facial expressions – furrowed brows, frowning, and looking deeply worried. Thus, these patients feel downhearted; nothing seems to interest them, they feel as if something heavy is pressing on their heart, devoid of pleasure, often crying, pessimistic, despairing, feeling as if each day lasts a year, and life not worth living. Sometimes, patients may feel that life is meaningless, hence might engage in self-harming or suicidal behaviors, blame themselves harshly, and have trouble concentrating. However, it's not that patients never experience happiness; it's just that they are in a depressed mood most of the time each day, with only occasional moments of happiness, which are relatively rare.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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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.

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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.

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Written by Du Rui Xia
Obstetrics
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Does postpartum depression require medication?

When suffering from postpartum depression, it can be treated with medication. This treatment method can help control negative emotions in new mothers. It can also alleviate some physical discomfort, reducing the damage caused by depression during treatment. However, breastfeeding should be suspended if medication is being taken. In addition to medication, psychological treatment is also necessary. Adjusting one's mental state is very important, as most cases of postpartum depression are caused by an unhealthy psychological foundation. (The use of medication should be conducted under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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Is depression hereditary?

Depression has a certain hereditary tendency. Studies involving large samples have found that if first-degree relatives of patients with depression have the disorder, the incidence of the disease in their offspring is significantly higher than in the general population. Additionally, studies on twins have shown that the concordance rate of depression in monozygotic twins is significantly higher than in dizygotic twins. Research in genetic studies has revealed that depression is a polygenic disorder. Therefore, it is possible for offspring of parents with depression not to inherit the disease. The onset of depression is often influenced by genetic factors, biochemical factors, and various social and psychological factors. Thus, the genetic probability of developing depression is generally higher than in the general population.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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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.)