The detection rate of adolescent depression in China reaches 24.6% How to save children's "unhappiness"?

Beijing, October 11 (Central Broadcasting Network) 10 is World Mental Health Day, and this year's theme is "The Soul of Youth, the Youth of Youth", in order to advocate the whole society to pay attention to and support the mental health promotion of children and adolescents. Adolescence should have been the purest and sunniest stage of life, but according to the "China National Mental Health Development Report (2019-2020)", in 2020, the depression detection rate of Chinese adolescents was 24.6%, of which mild depression was 17.2% and severe depression was 7.4%. By age group, the detection rate of adolescent depression increases with the increase of grade, and some children are in emotional troughs for a long time.

In addition, the data of the "Epidemiological Survey of Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents in China" shows that the prevalence rate of mental disorders in children and adolescents nationwide is 17.5%. Behind these realistic and cruel figures is a grim fact that must be faced squarely: teenagers are experiencing a "psychological crisis". What causes increasing depression in adolescents? How to save their "unhappiness"?

Ms. Wang (not her real name), who lives in Beijing, sent her children to a local boarding school in September this year because of her work. However, it didn't take long for the child to tell her that she would have a stomachache every night, and she was reluctant to talk to her classmates, and even her meals were affected. Ms. Wang said: "I lost more than 10 pounds in a month, so we were more worried, so we went to check." ”

After examination, Ms. Wang's child was diagnosed with mild depression, and the symptoms were typical psychological pain. Doctors say that in the case of excessive psychological pressure, there will be non-organic physical pain, such as dull pain in the head and neck, chest tightness and shortness of breath.

In fact, it is not uncommon for situations similar to Ms. Wang's children. In the past two years, with the deepening of public awareness of mental health issues, parents have begun to pay more attention to their children's mental health.

Lu Jin, chief physician of the Department of Psychiatry of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, told reporters that the reasons for the depressive symptoms of many teenagers at present are manifold. Lu Jin said: "Now children and adolescents have great learning pressure, their social skills are relatively weak, and parental expectations are particularly high, which will cause depression attacks in children and adolescents." ”

Lu Jin pointed out that most of the current statistics on adolescent depression are statistics on adolescents with depressive symptoms, and having depressive symptoms is not necessarily a depressed person. Lu Jin said: "Most of the surveys we do are screening for depressive symptoms, and this screening will be higher than the real depression (the number of patients), depression is a disease, and depressive symptoms are a state, so many people will be in this state." Because of depression, we clinically require mood depression, decreased interest, etc. that last for two weeks, accompanied by more than 5 symptoms. Third, there must be social function damage, such as school aversion or interpersonal problems. It is also necessary to exclude some other diseases, such as diabetes, especially if children have early-onset diabetes, etc. After excluding physical diseases, consider diagnosing depression. ”

The early symptoms of adolescent depression mainly include slow thinking, low mood, reluctance to communicate and sleep disorders, etc. As parents and teachers, we should pay more attention to observation. Lu Jin introduced: "First, slow thinking. For example, students feel that their brains cannot keep up when they are in class. Second, depressed mood. If there is significant and persistent sullenness and no interest in anything, these are an early manifestation of depression. There is also the reluctance to socialize, the reluctance to communicate with friends, the slow movement, the passive life, and the things that should be done are usually avoided. Third, sleep disorders. If insomnia occurs, difficulty falling asleep, easy to wake up in the middle of the night, and special sleepiness the next day should also be vigilant. In addition, there are the opposite aspects, such as drowsiness, very sleepy, and feeling that I can't get up all day. There is also the appetite aspect, such as things can not be eaten, of course, there is another extreme, will overeat, because high sugar will make the mood better. ”

Lu Jin pointed out that depression is a disease in which biological factors and socio-psychological factors work together, which are related to factors such as adolescent personality, parental genetics, environment and major events encountered. Lu Jin said: "Everyone has a different personality, some people have a personality that loves to drill the horns, in addition, they often encounter some unpleasant things, and some major and bad things will trigger depression. Sometimes there are also no clear factors, because there may be some functional abnormalities in the neurotransmitters associated with emotions in the brain, which are the causes of depression, which is a complex factor caused by the disease. ”

People with depression are usually very miserable, but they can be cured or relieved by scientific treatment. Lu Jin introduced: "We recommend that we first seek help from professional doctors in psychiatry and psychology, such as going to a psychiatric hospital or a general hospital psychiatric clinical psychology department to assess whether it is sick or not. The most effective treatments include medication, which can quickly relieve the symptoms of depression and shorten the duration of the attack, the drug is not addictive, and now the drug for depression is relatively safe. Psychotherapy can help patients deal with interpersonal conflict, improve interpersonal relationships, and how to properly face negative emotions, so it is recommended that the sooner the treatment is recovered, the faster the recovery, and the higher the likelihood of recovery. ”

How to prevent it? Lu Jin suggested that parents and teachers should try to urge their children to maintain a regular schedule and ensure adequate sleep. In addition to learning, children should also exercise moderately to improve their mood through exercise. At the same time, schools should also set up corresponding psychological counseling courses to cultivate adolescents' ability to self-regulate. Lu Jin said: "For example, in the recent period of time, there are too many make-up classes, too many exams, their own performance is not good, and some things have happened in the family, if there are too many such situations, you must appropriately reduce the pressure on yourself." ”

Zhu Rongxin, chief physician of the Department of Early Intervention of Nanjing Brain Hospital, said that the psychological problems of adolescents are often emotional problems, which are manifested as low mood and extreme. The earlier the adolescent mental illness is treated, the more effective the intervention and the better the recovery. He hopes that under the premise of protecting the privacy of adolescents, the psychological files will be shared with information of intervenors at different levels, so that families, schools, and communities can participate in the prevention and control system of adolescent psychological problems. Zhu Rongxin said: "Mental health problems cannot be completely solved by relying on psychological counseling or psychological treatment. To understand the factors that exist in these psychological problems, to provide targeted, personalized interventions and disease monitoring measures, so we hope to build a mental health profile for children who need attention. ”