What department do you see for depression?

Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
Updated on October 23, 2024
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Depression can be treated clinically by visiting either a psychiatric or psychological department. The main clinical manifestation is a persistent low mood, characterized by an inability to feel joy, gloominess, and typically significant mood variations. Cognitive processes tend to slow down, resulting in sluggish thinking, slow reactions, reduced volitional activities, a passive and listless approach to life, and a lack of hope for the future. Additionally, cognitive impairments such as decreased attention, diminished abstract thinking, learning, and judgment abilities may occur. Some patients may also exhibit physical symptoms, including sleep disturbances, decreased appetite, weight loss, physical pain, and anxiety-related disorders.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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What department do you see for depression?

Depression can be treated clinically by visiting either a psychiatric or psychological department. The main clinical manifestation is a persistent low mood, characterized by an inability to feel joy, gloominess, and typically significant mood variations. Cognitive processes tend to slow down, resulting in sluggish thinking, slow reactions, reduced volitional activities, a passive and listless approach to life, and a lack of hope for the future. Additionally, cognitive impairments such as decreased attention, diminished abstract thinking, learning, and judgment abilities may occur. Some patients may also exhibit physical symptoms, including sleep disturbances, decreased appetite, weight loss, physical pain, and anxiety-related disorders.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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What to do about insomnia caused by mild depression?

Patients with mild depression who experience insomnia symptoms can partly manage this through self-adjustment. For example, they can improve insomnia through exercise, especially two hours before bedtime, with medium intensity exercises to expend excess energy and ultimately achieve comprehensive muscle relaxation, leading to good sleeping habits. Additionally, in the treatment of mild depression, sedative antidepressants such as paroxetine, fluvoxamine, mirtazapine, and trazodone can be used, sometimes including tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline, which have been very satisfactory in their effects. Therefore, clinically, for insomnia in mild depression, both pharmacological treatment and self-adjustment methods can be adopted.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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Is mild depression normal?

Patients with mild depression, although also experiencing symptoms such as low mood, decreased interest, reduced motivation, slow thinking, and reduced volition, may have difficulty falling asleep and frequently wake up during sleep, among other related symptoms. However, patients often retain most of their social functions, causing some disturbance to daily life and work. Through self-adjustment, standardized psychotherapy, and medication, patients often achieve good treatment outcomes. Sometimes, the symptoms of some patients are relatively mild, and they may appear normal outwardly, but their inner experience is indeed pathological. Therefore, it is still necessary to undertake standardized, systematic, and scientific treatment to achieve clinical recovery.

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Written by Pang Ji Cheng
Psychiatry and Psychology
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Can someone with mild depression go to work?

Patients with mild depression can go to work. Those with mild depression may exhibit lighter symptoms such as mood decline, fatigue, and decreased interest. Often, patients may have difficulty sleeping; however, their social functions or most other functions are generally unaffected, with only minor impacts on their work and social activities. If patients are functionally capable of handling their jobs, depressive symptoms can be improved through behavioral training. Therefore, in clinical practice, patients with mild depression are encouraged to continue working, which further activates their energy and motivation, enhancing their positivity and initiative, and improving treatment outcomes. Additionally, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy can also achieve good therapeutic effects for patients with mild depression. Systematic and standard treatments should be continued to ultimately reach clinical recovery.

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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.