Fatigue, depression, anxiety or winter depression due to
Seasonal depression can be prevented by increasing sunshine time, outdoor exercise, ensuring regular and adequate sleep, and psychological counseling.
As winter arrives, some citizens find that they are beginning to become tired, depressed, and anxious. They can't find the reason and blame it on "bad mood", but perhaps this is seasonal depression.
According to psychiatric experts, autumn and winter are the peak seasons for depression.
Shorter sunshine hours and reduced outdoor activities may induce or aggravate depression.
When depression persists for a long time, is unable to mediate on its own, or has a negative impact on life and work, do not insist on it, but seek professional help from a doctor.
Patient: No energy to do anything "like a mess of mud"
One morning in December, on the second floor of the outpatient clinic of Beijing Anding Hospital, the lobby waiting area was full of patients, and many patients were waiting outside the clinic.
Winter is one of the seasons with the most intensive flow of people in psychiatrics.
At 10:30 in the morning, patient Li Hong (pseudonym) knocked on the door and entered the consulting room.
When she communicated with the doctor, she had a brisk tone and seemed to be in a normal state of mind. However, she said that she has suffered from depression recently.
Li Hong described that she has become very lazy recently, "like a mess of mud", she has no energy to do anything, she just wants to lie at home, not exercise, not get out of bed, and at the same time, she is also very depressed and does not want to see anyone. do not want to talk.
Before seeing the doctor, she did not even take a bath for several days and did not leave home for a whole week.
After Li Hong left, another patient described a similar situation.
The patient told the doctor that her work and life have been normal recently, and she has not experienced any stressful events, but her mood has started to become depressed. He is tired every day, has insomnia, and sometimes suddenly feels like crying.
Both patients were not in their first visit. Li Hong had previously diagnosed bipolar disorder with dual manifestations of mania and depression.
The doctor analyzed that the aggravation of depression between the two people may be related to the arrival of winter, and this phenomenon is also reflected in some patients with depression.
In the professional field, this phenomenon belongs to seasonal affective disorder. In winter, it is often referred to as "winter depression."
Winter depression is related to the length of sunshine
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a subtype of affective disorder, which refers to the onset of depression or bipolar disorder with obvious seasonality, and the onset and relief of mood symptoms often occur at a fixed time of the year .
It usually starts in late autumn and winter and subsides in spring and summer. Some patients also have emotional symptoms in warmer months.
According to Zhao Qian, deputy chief physician of the Depression Treatment Center of Beijing Anding Hospital, seasonal affective disorder is very common clinically.
Two peak periods of outpatient and inpatient visits can be observed in the hospital. One is the peak period for patients with bipolar disorder before and after convulsion, which is the peak period of bipolar disorder visits; the other is in the autumn and winter, the depression clinic The number of patients has increased significantly.
The manifestations of winter depression include not only low mood, decreased interest in doing things, negative negative emotions, low self-evaluation, self-blame, but also lack of energy, lack of language, fatigue, slow response, decreased work and study efficiency, decreased appetite, and sleep Poor quality, delayed work and rest, even upside-down day and night, etc.
According to related research, the appearance of winter depression is related to the length of sunshine.
In some European and American countries with continuous rain and short sunshine, the incidence of depression is higher; the peak of public consultations also shows a seasonal tendency, and the first appearance of depression is mostly in winter.
Follow-up 1
Can winter depression heal on its own?
Zhao Qian introduced that winter depression is no different from non-seasonal depression in terms of symptoms.
Some patients show outstanding anxiety, some show low motivation, and some show irritability and irritability.
From the perspective of time, if there is no specific cause of depression in the winter for two consecutive years, it will naturally alleviate in the spring, indicating that seasonal depression is likely.
However, although the season is an inducing factor, depression does not necessarily disappear as the season changes and the inducement disappears.
Ordinary people can prevent seasonal depression by increasing sunshine time, increasing outdoor sports, ensuring regular and adequate sleep, and psychological counseling. In northern areas, the winter sun is shorter. If conditions permit, you can consider going to places with sufficient sunshine such as Hainan. Over the winter, reduce the incidence of depression.
In the clinic, doctors will give treatment and guidance according to the severity of the patient's condition, and will also help patients restore their health through auxiliary treatment such as phototherapy.
Follow-up 2
How to judge whether to "help yourself" or "see a doctor"?
Zhao Qian introduced that depression is also divided into different types.
Ordinary people will inevitably have emotional problems in a stressful environment, and depression may not necessarily be depression.
The difference between mood and disease lies mainly in its impact on social functions.
Among them, depression can be relieved in a relatively short period of time, and has no obvious impact on life and work; depression lasts for a long time and cannot be relieved by personal efforts, which ultimately affects the normal work and life of the patient.
When depression is only present, ordinary people can relieve it through exercise, listening to music, and talking; but if they experience a stressful event, the degree of depression is severe, or it has a greater impact on personal life, they should see a doctor as soon as possible.
In fact, from the experience of clinical admissions, depressed patients often choose to seek medical treatment when the degree of depression is severe, and some patients prefer psychotherapy.
It should be noted that medication and physical therapy cannot be ignored.
Mental diseases are not simply "emotional problems", they are closely related to physical conditions. Physical diseases such as thyroid disease, encephalitis, and pituitary tumors may affect emotions. Before a diagnosis, patients need to undergo a series of professional examinations and evaluations.
Therefore, patients should first go to a psychiatric department to check for physical disease factors.
In addition, there are patients who want to find relevant scales for self-evaluation, but different scales have different uses and different methods of use, so they should be left to the doctor for judgment.
Follow-up 3
Who are the key groups?
Zhao Qian reminded that there are obvious gender differences in depression, and the ratio of female to male prevalence is about 2:1.
In modern society, women have to bear multiple responsibilities of occupation and family, and they are under greater pressure. From the perspective of physiological characteristics, hormone changes in the body of women in pregnancy and childbirth, menopause, menstrual cycle and other stages will bring more obvious mood swings, superimposed on seasonal factors , The risk of depression may further increase.
From the perspective of age, whether in the clinic or the ward, the trend of younger patients with depression is becoming more and more obvious, and the cases of self-harm and suicide of students have received widespread attention in recent years.
Adolescent depression and adolescent rebellion are mixed together, and the emotional symptoms presented are sometimes not just pure depression, but unstable characteristics, which should be paid attention to.
Patients who have been diagnosed in the past also need to pay more attention.
Zhao Qian followed up with a patient for many years. She was pregnant some time ago, and she reduced her medication in autumn and winter. Her depression relapsed more than 20 days later. After increasing the dose of medication, she failed to improve effectively. Finally, she changed her medication regimen and added physical therapy.
She reminded patients with depression that drug reduction and withdrawal should be carried out under the guidance of a doctor, and more attention should be paid in autumn and winter.
hint
Advise family members to accompany you for depression
●It is recommended that family members accompany you when you go to the hospital for treatment.
Patients' descriptions can only represent personal feelings, and doctors also need to learn some objective information from bystanders.
●Depression medication needs to be individualized.
It is routinely recommended to take antidepressants in the morning to boost the spirit and sleep aids at night.
There are also a small number of patients who feel sleepy after taking the medication during the day and can communicate with the doctor for adjustment; for those who have a history of depressive diagnosis, it is not recommended to take the medication by themselves during depressive episodes, and should go to the hospital for treatment and the doctor's judgment.
●Patients who have done relevant genetic testing sites can bring the test results to see a doctor, or help doctors choose suitable drugs.
Beijing News reporter Dai Xuan