Understanding depression
Mr Chan Chun Wai, Raymond, Clinical Psychologist
According to the prediction of WHO, depression will have jumped to the second
place of the 10 leading causes of the global burden of disease by 2020 (ranked just
below ischemic heart disease). Therefore we should all take it seriously.
Depression is unlike typical feelings of unhappiness or of being down. Its
symptoms can be divided into several aspects. Emotional symptoms include sadness,
tearing and feelings of wanting to cry, loss of interest in almost all things, helplessness,
despair and feelings of worthlessness. Physical symptoms include insomnia, excessive
sleeping, loss of appetite, fatigue, headaches and chest pain. People suffering from
depression may also have suicidal thoughts, diminished thinking ability and difficulty
in making decisions, etc. If a person suffers from three to four or more of the above
symptoms almost daily for a period of at least two weeks, and the person feels
distressed or his daily functioning like work and social life seriously impaired, then
this person may suffers from severe depression. If a person experiences fewer
symptoms but the situation persists for a long period of time, such as two years or
longer, then this person may be suffering from dysthymic disorder. In this situation, a
doctor should be sought as soon as possible for advice and appropriate treatment.
Being afraid of the mood problem and avoiding treatment can actually lead to more
difficulties with family, social interactions or work instead, and the person affected
may even commit suicide.
The causes of depression are complex, mutually interact and include personal
physiological factors (such as a disorder of chemical transmitter substances in the
brain), distorted personality or thoughts (such as perfectionism, pessimism or thought
patterns which see only the negative but not the positive), stressful events (such as
bereavement, divorce, interpersonal problems or unemployment) and so on
Take note that depression can be treated. Effective treatments commonly used
include drug prescriptions by family doctors or psychiatrists, as well as psychotherapy
from clinical psychologists. Depression can also be prevented. I can only go over this
briefly due to the space constraints of this article. In short, a good solution is to have
good physical and mental health every day. To find out more, read more relevant
articles and information!
Note This article is translated by a translation company from the corresponding original
Chinese article in the Chinese section of this website. It is meant to be just an
approximation of the original article for the benefit of readers who do not read
Chinese.