Depression is one of the mental disorders, regardless of gender or age, that needs attention and treatment. Depressive disorders not only affect the mental and physical health of the patient, but also affect family and social relationships.

Part 1: Difference between depression and sadness

Millions of people around the world experience sadness or even depression at some point in their lives. Feeling sad is an integral symptom of depression, but these two emotions are not the same. Recognizing how depression is different from normal sadness can help you handle both in the right way for health benefits.

✥ Sadness

Sadness is a normal human emotion. Anyone will go through times of stress or sadness. Certain life events can affect your mood in a negative way and make you feel sad or unhappy like losing a job, losing a loved one, getting a divorce, failing an exam, etc.

When feeling sad or down, people often distract themselves by doing something they love or talking to a loved one. A person who is experiencing sadness will feel more relieved after crying, venting their anger, or voicing frustration.

Usually, sadness is linked to a specific cause and will pass over time. If it persists or if you are unable to return to your normal life, this could be a sign of depression. When you find that your mood is getting worse or sad for more than 2 weeks, you should see a psychologist.

✥ Depression

Depression is a mental disorder that alters behavior and attitudes, greatly affecting a person’s life. Sometimes people who are sad have moments where they can laugh or be comforted. But depression is different from sadness. Your emotions will affect all aspects of your life. This is a mental illness, not a fleeting emotional one.

This disease can happen to anyone, regardless of gender or age. Symptoms include feelings of deeply sad, depression, hopelessness, lack of motivation, and loss of interest in things that were once enjoyed. In severe cases, the person may think about death or attempt suicide. They no longer want to spend time with family and friends, may stop pursuing their hobbies, or feel unable to go to work or school.

A health care professional may diagnose you with major depressive disorder if the following symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks:

• 👉The depressed mood lasts all day, occurring every day with noticeable signs of despair and sadness.
• 👉Loss of interest in normal activities.
• 👉Significant weight loss or gain for no apparent reason.
• 👉Insomnia, difficulty sleeping or an increased amount of sleep that interferes with normal activities.
• 👉Fatigue and lack of energy.
• 👉Feel worthless or excessively guilty every day.
• 👉Inability to concentrate or make decisions.
• 👉Having repeated thoughts of death or suicide, trying or planning suicide.

If you experience these 5 symptoms for more than 2 weeks, your doctor will diagnose you with a health problem, not just persistent sadness. Unlike sadness, depression can make it very difficult for a person to get through the day.

Part 2: Causes of depression

• 🔥Seasonal affective disorder:

It is hard to believe but seasonal affective disorder is the most common cause of depression. The erratic weather makes it difficult for patients to adjust and adapt to the climate. According to many scientists, the disease is more severe in the summer due to the influence of unfavorable weather factors such as heat, many ultraviolet rays, …

• 🔥Stress, psychological trauma:

Stress, prolonged stress or psychological trauma, past shocks such as bereavement, miscarriage, accident, etc. are also reasons for illness.

• 🔥Genetic factors:

Depression can also be caused by genetic factors. Of the cases diagnosed with the disease, about 60% are caused by environmental factors, the remaining 40% are believed to be genetic. Therefore, if the family has relatives such as grandparents, fathers, mothers, siblings, etc., the disease rate will be 3 times higher than that of the general population.

• 🔥Chronic illness:

The process of “living together” with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer… not only causes physical pain, but also strongly affects the patient’s mental health, has a high risk of disease. this disease.

• 🔥Gender:

The rate of women suffering from the disease is 2 times higher than that of men because they have to bear more tasks such as taking care of children, social work, pent-up family pressure, no time to share, as well as Time to take care of yourself…

• 🔥Prolonged insomnia:

Modern life and work pressure cause many people to face insomnia, which greatly affects the completion of the nervous system. Research shows that, when sleep loss lasts for a long time, the brain will have negative reactions, easily leading to a psychological state of irritability, irritability, body weakness, etc. Since then many health problems arise. mental illness, including mental illness.

• 🔥Social network abuse, phone addiction:

Entering the digital age, many people are deeply immersed in the virtual world on social networking sites such as Zalo, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Some recent studies have shown that spending too much time online society will make many people difficult to interact with people in real life, lack of friendship and often have a wrong view of life. Therefore, it can be said that social media addiction is associated with depression, especially in adolescents and young children.

Part 3: How to help yourself overcome depression

1. ☘Healthy diet

Những gì bạn ăn có thể có tác động đáng kể đến cách cơ thể và tâm trí của bạn cảm nhận. Mặc dù bạn có thể muốn ăn đồ ăn nhẹ chứa nhiều đường hoặc chất béo khi cảm thấy tâm trạng không tốt, nhưng tốt nhất là bạn nên cân bằng các loại trái cây, rau và protein để cải thiện mức năng lượng và giữ sức khỏe tốt. Tránh bỏ bữa và đảm bảo ăn các bữa đều đặn để giúp bạn duy trì thói quen trong ngày. Ngoài ra, bạn nên hạn chế lượng caffeine và rượu bạn uống, điều này có thể tác động tiêu cực đến tâm trạng của bạn

2. ☘More exercise

Studies have shown that just 15 minutes of moderate exercise a day can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. This is because exercise helps break down stress hormones like cortisol while also releasing endorphins that help you feel good. However, not every activity needs to get your heart pumping and sweating to be an effective tool against depression. Some other ways to exercise include walking for thirty minutes, gardening, mopping the house, washing the car, biking, being outdoors, taking the pet for a walk.

Experts recommend being active for at least thirty minutes a day to help regulate your mood, improve your overall health, and protect yourself from other risk factors such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

3. ☘Quality sleep

Sleep is something that can quickly affect every other part of your life, especially if you’re not sleeping well. Depression and sleep go hand in hand because sleep deprivation can cause or contribute to depressive symptoms, and depression can cause sleep problems, ultimately impairing a person’s ability to function daily. friend.

To support a healthy sleep cycle, make sure you keep a regular bedtime and wake-up schedule, avoiding naps and exposure to bright light immediately after waking to signal your brain. that it’s time to start a new day. Limiting caffeine and alcohol intake and scheduling exercise during the day will also help you fall asleep faster each night.

4. ☘Sun

Another aspect of self-care that is easy to overlook when all you want to do is sit on the couch to catch the sun! Sunlight and darkness activate different hormones in your brain, and spending too much time indoors can have a huge impact on your mood. Along with increasing serotonin levels, spending time outdoors can boost Vitamin D production, lower blood pressure, strengthen bones, and allow you to get better quality sleep.

5. ☘Socialize with friends and family

Schedule time to visit family and friends or plan lunch with coworkers so you have a specific time and place that you can lean on when feeling down. You may also find that some of these people have experienced depression and they can contact you on the subject and share ideas about what has helped them in the past or just open up.

Reference: vinmec.com & medlatec.vn & jcmh.org

Insmart’s Health Screening Program Administration Service

Insmart is the leading health screening program administration unit in Vietnam, we always aim to ensure the sustainability of healthcare for business. We provide a full range of utilities to support customers during the examination, ensuring that customers receive the dedicated and attentive care in the using service process.

With over 10 years of experience in working with medical providers and affiliated networks in many provinces, Insmart has been providing the most professional, practical, and preeminent Management and Organization solutions of Health check-up for partners and businesses.

Through this service, we provide professional health screening programs, which help to save human resources in the accounting costs process with medical providers, acquire the most favorable price for medical examination, treatment services, and enhance employee’s experiences about company compensation and benefits.

If you are planning to organize a health screening program for employees, please contact Insmart via email: mkt@insmart.com.vn for detailed program planning advice.

Please find more information about our service at:

Website: www.insmart.com.vn

Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/insmartvn/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/insmart-vietnam

[Marketing Department – Insmart Joint Stock Company]