Zhengzhou Depression: How to Prevent Teen Depression
Depression in adolescents is not formed overnight, nor is it caused by only one factor, but is the result of a long-term combined effect of multiple factors. At present, the treatment rate of depression in adolescents is very low, mainly because adolescents and their parents do not have enough awareness of depression, or think that it is no big deal and take it too lightly; lead to suicide or self-harm. The key to effectively preventing depression in adolescents is to make adolescents and parents pay attention to mental health issues and face depression.
(1) Pay attention to mental health problems and face depression.
In recent years, although the penetration rate of mental health knowledge has greatly improved, misunderstandings about depression still exist, and these misunderstandings are also exacerbated by the false introduction of depression in online media. Many people think that "depression is pure depression, not a disease". But in fact, people with depression will have many physical symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations, pain in one part of the body, etc. In addition, depression can impair cognitive function, leading to memory loss, attention deficit, and learning difficulties in adolescents. This is the result of a combination of neurobiochemical, neuroendocrine and other factors, requiring formal drug and psychological treatment, rather than simply regulating emotions.
The suicide rate of depression is as high as 15% to 25%, and it is the second largest disease after heart disease. It must not be taken lightly. Due to low awareness of depression, some teens are unaware that they have depression, resulting in low rates of depression treatment. Some teens know they may be suffering from depression and refuse to go to professional treatment because they fear that their peers will think they are hypocritical. Therefore, in addition to offering special psychological courses for students, schools should also hold a mental health parent meeting to let parents have a correct understanding of mental health and depression.
(2) Develop a positive coping style for young people
Everyone experiences emotional ups and downs in life. Depression is a negative emotion that follows a stressful event. The most basic feature is a sense of powerlessness, helplessness, and hopelessness. Some people can get out of this emotion very quickly, and some people will be stuck in this emotion all the time. This is because people respond differently to stressful events.
Coping style refers to the behavioral style adopted to solve the problem when assessing the risk of stressful events [5]. According to the individual's attitude towards stressful events, coping styles can be divided into negative coping styles and positive coping styles. Negative coping means that individuals are reluctant to face problems directly when faced with stressful events, but try to use avoidance as a way to solve problems, mainly including self-blame, fantasies, tolerance and rationalization of things. Positive coping means actively solving problems and seeking help from others, and actively facing difficulties. Previous research has confirmed that people who frequently use negative coping styles have higher levels of depression. Although one can choose to temporarily escape the problem, the problem is not solved.
When individuals are chronically confronted with unresolved problems, they are more prone to depression [6]. Therefore, parents should pay attention to cultivating positive coping styles in their children. At the same time, you should be the guardian of your child's mental health, keep calm, and don't vent your bad emotions at home, let alone on your kids. Parents' understanding, listening, caring and support can help children vent their emotions and find out the cause, which can help prevent depression.
At the same time, parents and teachers should urge teenagers to maintain a regular schedule and ensure adequate sleep. In addition to studying, it is necessary to let young people do moderate exercise to improve their mood through exercise. Schools should offer corresponding psychological counseling courses to cultivate young people's self-regulation ability.