“Severe depression”, at around 22:00 on June 13, in an office building in Hankou, Mr. Zhou, a citizen, looked at the four black characters on the screen of his mobile phone and felt uneasy. 2 minutes ago, he saw a 1-minute test for measuring depression on the Internet, and he took the test himself because he was in a bad mood for several days.
Mr. Zhou obtained a screenshot of the result of “severe depression” by testing depression online. Mr. Zhou provided
“I feel like I’ve always been normal, why is my depression so serious?” On the 15th, Mr. Zhou logged on to the Wuhan city message board for consultation, and online self-assessment of depression was not reliable. Reliable?
Severe depression is detected in one minute. Is the online depression self-assessment reliable?
Mr. Zhou is engaged in product production in a company in Hankou and is the backbone of the company’s business. In daily life, he likes swimming, archery, and collecting electronic products. In the eyes of his colleagues, he is an “optimist”.
Recently, Mr. Zhou has encountered some difficulties in his work. A project he was in charge of has not progressed for a week. After a few days of staying up late and working overtime, he always felt a little dizzy, flustered, depressed and temperamental. I was irritable, couldn’t eat, and couldn’t get up. A colleague joked with him, “Are you depressed?”
The speaker is unintentional, and the listener is intentional. Mr. Zhou had doubts and searched for depression-related information on the Internet at 22:00 on the 13th. He found a lot of “one minute self-test depression” tweets, so he found a test question to test himself. A minute later, the result of “severe depression” made him “shocked” and immediately made an online appointment for the expert account of the Wuhan Mental Health Center.
The next morning, Mr. Zhou’s project passed the review. His mood suddenly changed from cloudy to sunny. “Is the online self-testing depression reliable, do I still need to see a doctor?” Mr. Zhou wondered.
According to the information provided by Mr. Zhou, the Changjiang Daily reporter found that there are many kinds of depression self-assessment tests on the Internet. The test usually only takes 1 to 2 minutes, and the questions range from 10 to 20 questions. The content of the questions mainly revolves around the tester’s recent work and rest, diet, emotional state, etc.
Mr. Zhou chose the self-rating depression scale from the official website of Baidu Health, with a total of 20 questions. On the results page, the scale is indicated in smaller fonts: the results are for reference only and cannot be used as the basis for diagnosis and treatment. It also prompts to “consult a professional psychiatrist as soon as possible”. In some unknown test pages or small programs, there is no such prompt.
Experts: The diagnosis of depression is very rigorous, and the self-test results are unreliable
Is the online depression self-test effective? Professor Liao Haolei, a national first-level psychologist and chief physician of the Wuhan University Medical Department, said that the self-rating scale is not a diagnostic scale, and the test results can only represent the tester’s current emotional state, and cannot be the basis for diagnosing depression. “The possibility of depression is only considered when a person has been depressed for more than a certain period of time.”
How is “a certain period of time” defined? Liao Haolei said that different doctors will have different judgments, some are stricter, some are more lenient, but it is roughly 2 weeks to more than 2 months.
As for Mr. Zhou’s situation, Liao Haolei analyzed that when he encountered difficulties at work, he felt physical and mental discomfort, and the symptoms disappeared when the problems were solved. This is a psychological problem, not a mental illness. Psychological problems are temporary negative emotions caused by unhappiness in life or emotions, and the problem can be solved as long as the unhappiness is resolved or the reality is accepted. Mental illness needs to be resolved with the help of a professional doctor.
Liao Haolei told reporters that the doctor’s diagnosis of depression is very rigorous. In addition to a series of scale tests, he also needs to have at least a half-hour conversation with the patient. “It is not recommended for everyone to diagnose depression through online self-testing, and sometimes it is to scare themselves.”
What should the public do if they suspect that they have depression? Liao Haolei suggested that it can be verified from two aspects. The first is symptoms. Are there symptoms such as low mood, slow thinking, weight loss, poor diet and sleep? The second is time. Did the above symptoms persist for 24 hours over a longer period of time? If both aspects exist, you can find a professional doctor for final diagnosis.
“Even if you are diagnosed with depression, don’t panic.” Liao Haolei said that with the advancement of medicine and medical technology, there are already many ways to effectively treat depression. Clinical results show that at least 85% of patients with depression can be cured through adherence to systemic treatment.
He said that for mild to moderate patients, it is not recommended to take medicine, but it can be changed and treated from three aspects. The first is to enrich your life and spiritual world, so that you don’t have much time and energy to think wildly. The second is to have more contact with happy people. Those who are close to Zhu are red, and their emotions will also be infected. The third is to do things to help others, which can not only contribute to society, but also get recognition and gratitude from others, which satisfies the emotional value of patients with depression.
(Changjiang Daily reporter Sun Xiaotian intern reporter Fan Youhan)
[Editor: Hou Fangyu]
[Source: Changjiang Daily-Changjiang Net ]