Hello everyone, I am Li Kejian from the Department of Neurology of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
At present, many netizens still have a relatively shallow understanding of typical mental illness and more common depression. It is particularly difficult to make an accurate assessment of mental status when the symptoms are atypical or early and the symptoms are not fully apparent. However, how should the distinction between psychosis and depression be made?
First, mental illness is mainly characterized by disordered thinking and emotional numbness. Although emotionally numb patients sometimes look similar to depression, they do not experience highly sensitive emotional experiences such as sadness, disappointment, low self-esteem, and self-blame. In contrast, depression is characterized by depressed mood, loss of pleasure, and feelings of anxiety and depression are more pronounced.
Second, the depression of patients with mental illness is often accompanied by subsequent mental health problems, which are alleviated with the improvement of mental illness. Mental illness associated with depression occurs at the same time as depression and subsides or worsens with the recovery of mental status. In addition, people with mental illness are mostly confused with facts, and delusions such as condemnation, complaining and cursing are the main ones. In addition, the characteristics of psychosis such as bizarre delusions, multiple bizarre thoughts co-existing and contradictory, criticism of others, hallucinations of an argumentative nature, etc., are very different from the symptoms of depression.
Third, from the perspective of the onset process, most of the mental disorders show a trend of continuous development or reversal, and there may still be mental symptoms and even personality defects during the recovery period. The course of depression is relatively short, and the patient's personality basically returns to normal during the recovery period.
Fourth, even the same physical manifestations mean very different things in the two diseases. For example, reticent speech is often interpreted in people with mental illness as an empty mind – a feeling of being at a loss and unable to speak.
In people with depression, the phenomenon is more likely to manifest itself as sluggish thinking – the feeling that the thinking machine is slowing down because it lacks adequate lubricant. The reduction of smiles, for patients with mental illness, is a symbol of emotional dementia and indifference, showing a weak sense of fraternity and a tendency to care for family members.
Therefore, the difference between the symptoms of psychosis and depression is as follows:Mental illness is characterized by thinking disorders and emotional numbness; Depression, on the other hand, is characterized by a depressed mood and a lack of depression. In addition, there are also great differences between the two in terms of pathogenesis and methods. Correctly identify all kinds of mental illness in order to get timely and effective**, I hope everyone can do it as soon as possible**, if you have such problems, I hope I can help you.