What are the symptoms of postpartum depression?

Written by Du Rui Xia
Obstetrics
Updated on September 27, 2024
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In cases of postpartum depression, women primarily exhibit emotional excitability, as well as anxiety, feelings of helplessness, guilt, and concerns about being unable to support their child. Severe cases may involve fears of the child suffering in the world, leading to infanticidal actions, and even suicide. This condition generally occurs more frequently in women who have a history of mental illness. Following childbirth, due to physical discomfort, emotional instability, and factors such as sleep disturbances, these adverse reactions are likely to be exacerbated.

Other Voices

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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Can depression recur?

Relapse in patients with depression is a relatively common issue in clinical practice. Large-scale studies have found that even with systematic, standardized treatment with sufficient dosage and duration of antidepressant medications, still 15% of patients do not achieve clinical recovery. Even with persistent standardized treatment, the relapse rate remains at 20%. If treatment is discontinued, the relapse rate can rise to as high as 85%. For patients who have recovered, there is still a 20% chance of relapse within six months. 50% of patients relapse within two years after their first episode. Therefore, the relapse rate is higher in patients over the age of 45. Thus, depression is characterized by a high rate of relapse, yet it is also highly treatable. Therefore, during the course of pharmacological treatment, psychological and physical therapies should be concurrently employed as adjunctive treatments to improve cure rates and reduce the likelihood of relapse.

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

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.

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

Depression is not contagious, but there is a certain genetic predisposition to it. Clinically, depression is closely related to genetic, environmental, physiological, and psychological factors. For families with a history of depression, their offspring are 4-8 times more likely to suffer from depression than the general population. However, this does not mean depression is a hereditary disease. Interaction with individuals suffering from depression may influence others negatively, including feelings of sadness, self-blame, or despair. Nevertheless, depression cannot be transmitted to others. Through systematic and standardized treatment, particularly with the use of new antidepressant medications, depression can be effectively managed.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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How is depression diagnosed?

The diagnosis of depression in clinical settings involves four aspects: First, the collection of medical history, which includes understanding the onset, progression, treatment, and outcome of the illness, as well as past treatment experiences, etc. Second, psychiatric assessment, involving examinations with the patient concerning their sensations, perceptions, consciousness, thinking, emotions, intelligence, memory, self-control, willpower, and other aspects. Third, the use of scales to measure depression, which includes self-rating scales or observer-rating scales for depression to assess the severity of the patient's condition. Fourth, through related auxiliary examinations, excluding physical illnesses that may cause symptoms of depression. Ultimately, the diagnosis of depression is determined by integrating information from these four areas.

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Written by Zhou Yan
Geriatrics
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How to Cure Geriatric Depression

For geriatric depression, the treatment includes several aspects. Firstly, it is important to strengthen the patient's diet and nutrition supplementation. Secondly, certain psychological therapies should be provided to the depressed patients. The aim is mainly to alleviate or relieve symptoms, improve patients’ compliance with medication, prevent relapse, and reduce or eliminate the adverse consequences caused by the disease. The third aspect is to provide certain medication treatments, such as the currently used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). These types of medications have been widely used in patients with geriatric depression disorders. Among them, SSRIs are quite effective for geriatric depression disorders and can effectively counteract cholinergic and have milder adverse reactions on the cardiovascular system, making it easy for elderly patients to accept and maintain long-term treatment. The fourth aspect is the improvement of electroconvulsive therapy, which can significantly improve depression when combined with comprehensive treatment. However, since depression has a high recurrence rate, full-course treatment is recommended.