Clinical observations and literature studies at home and abroad have shown that people with other diseases, such as cancer, medical and surgical-related diseases or chronic diseases, are more likely to cause emotional distress such as anxiety and depression than the average person .
More commonly, medical and surgical patients are found to be prone to anxiety and depression during their hospital stay. Common emotional distress may be thinking a lot, strong negative thoughts, low mood, inability to relax the whole person, and may even have thoughts of suicide and self-harm.
So, how do you deal with the anxiety and depression that comes with being sick? Psychology expert Professor Rong suggested that we can start from the following five points.
One, understand the side effects of drugs
There was a cancer patient who was only in her 20s. Although she was actively receiving treatment, the cancer treatment seriously affected her work and changed her originally stable relationship, making her unconscious. I fell into severe depression, but fortunately, I came to the Department of Psychiatry for immediate discovery. After receiving antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy, I gradually got out of the emotional trough. Generally speaking, some medicines for medical and surgical diseases, including cancer medicines, may indeed cause anxiety and depression in patients, such as some blood pressure lowering drugs, or steroid medicines to treat inflammation, hormonal medicines or birth control pills for women , and its side effects may cause depression.
2. Aerobic exercise
In addition to proper drug treatment and sufficient sunlight, what should the patient do to solve the emotional problems of the entanglement more smoothly? Professor Rong Xinqi believes that engaging in more positive leisure activities and sports in life will be of great help! To put it simply, patients are generally encouraged to maintain the habit of regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, which can promote the secretion of pleasant “endorphins” in the brain to relieve anxiety and reduce the probability of depression.
With regard to the concept of exercise, he also mentioned in particular, “Outpatient clinics often spend a lot of time educating patients about the importance of health education, but many people often confuse exercise with labor, and many people who go to exercise People will think that they are forced to exercise for the sake of health, that exercise is a very tiring task, and they will not be able to enjoy the time of exercise and the positive benefits it brings.”
In terms of diet, an analysis of clinical studies has found that,
Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids
(deep-sea fish oil) is rich in EPA, which has positive effects on improving anxiety and depression, but the supplement method and dosage are recommended to be consumed by a professional doctor after evaluating personal conditions, and the effect will be better. .
Third, relax breathing + hypnosis self-healing
In addition to aerobic exercise, abdominal breathing and hypnotic self-healing can also be helpful in improving anxiety and depression.
Actually, abdominal breathing is the most primitive breathing method of human beings. It is a breathing method that we have not been taught since we were born, but as we grow older, we become accustomed to using thoracic breathing unconsciously. , and then when you are nervous, you will breathe more quickly, your body and mind will become more anxious and tense, your heart will speed up, and even sleep will be affected.
It is recommended to go home every day, give yourself a short period of time, mix with your favorite music, calm down and do some abdominal breathing, so that the body and mind that have been tense all day, get a chance to truly relax .
Fourth, pay attention to sufficient sunshine in winter
Especially in winter, this anxiety and depression caused by illness requires special attention! “Actually, every year starting in the fall, patients in the Department of Psychiatry will obviously see patients come to see a doctor by accident. Some may be patients who have not returned for a long time before and whose condition is stable, but suddenly come to see a doctor again.” /p>
According to clinical experience and literature, winter is indeed a season that is prone to relapse of depression. The main reason may be that after the season enters autumn and winter, the light time is shortened, and the biological rhythm in the body caused by insufficient sunlight related to sexual disorders. “
It can be seen that such people and their family members who are anxious, depressed or have a history of physical and mental illness due to medical and surgical diseases may wish to remind the patient more while receiving treatment, especially When entering winter, you still need to find opportunities to bask in the sun every day to prevent the decrease of serotonin concentration and the imbalance of melatonin, which will affect sleep, diet and mood, especially those who are prone to relapse as long as the seasons change in the past, supplement enough Sunlight is an indispensable natural remedy.
V. Family Listening + Correct Treatment
Once family members and friends around have such diseases caused by the diseaseAnxiety and depression, how can we help them overcome the depression?
In the face of such patients who are depressed due to illness, people around them usually persuade: “Don’t think too much, you are just because you think too much.” But in fact, this kind of The terminology does not help the patient at all.
It is suggested that family members and friends can play the role of “listeners” first, and then further care and understand the troubles of the patient. You can try to ask him: “Do you need any help?” Is it because of poor sleep, inability to eat, or feeling bad spirits, always unable to lift up energy, bad mood and other symptoms.
Replace overly subjective judgments with listening and understanding, and then accompany the patient for follow-up consultations to be diagnosed by the attending physician, whether the side effects of the mainline treatment drugs are affected, and the physician recommends whether the patient should be referred to the psychiatry department For further treatment in the outpatient clinic, it is more appropriate to directly suggest or test “Should you see a physical and mental department or a psychiatric department?”, because the judgment and advice of professional doctors are usually more acceptable to patients. , in order to give timely and correct treatment.