Ancient Chinese wisdom has the theory of "the unity of body and mind", to the effect that the spirit is not an intangible thing independent of the body, but corresponds to the body. Human beings have a brain that can produce thoughts and emotions, and all the complex emotions of human beings have corresponding and exquisite biological mechanisms.

It follows from this that depression is a physical and mental illness. It has both functional lesions of the brain and psychological cognitive misunderstandings. Human genes lay the foundation for physiological susceptibility, and then interact with the external environment, affect emotions, and feed back to themselves, thus showing a series of depressive symptoms.

In summary, depression is a dynamic process, a composite manifestation of a vast system, rather than a separate genetic, neurotransmitter, and psychological problem. It is not completely cured by medication alone.

Limitations of drug therapy

Today, modern science has been able to roughly clarify the principles of drug treatment for mental illness.

To put it simply, mood disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia are mostly related to chemical transmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Certain drugs can increase or decrease the concentration of chemical transmitters in the synaptic cleft of the central nervous system, thereby altering the patient's mood and alleviating the symptoms of the disease. The principle of production of various antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and anxiolytics is roughly the same.

It can be seen that drugs skip the external causes of emotions and act directly on neurotransmitters to improve the function of the brain, so as to clinically cure mental diseases.

However, as the saying of "body and mind are one", in the field of psychiatry, behind any symptom, there is a profound psychological meaning. In real life, we can observe that even if a considerable number of patients have improved their mood through drug treatment, their cognitive patterns have not changed, psychological conflicts still exist, and many troubles in life are difficult to solve, which has laid a hidden danger for the recurrence of the disease.

There are also some patients whose temperament is melancholy and pessimistic, and the personality base is prone to depression. To use an analogy: his internal environment is like a hotbed in which weeds grow; Antidepressants are like herbicides, although they get rid of weeds, the hotbed is still there, and when they encounter the right environment, they will still be overgrown.

To completely cure depression, it is necessary to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, and at the same time carry out medication and psychotherapy.

An inner world that is difficult to open

Compared with the medication treatment of depression, psychotherapy is a long way. Both the healer and the treated can only use their own hearts to experience the curative effect, and cannot determine when the end of the treatment is.

The reason is that the patient's heart is a world that is difficult to open.

It's not that the patient is subjectively unwilling to open (which is certainly not common), but objectively, the human psyche has an instinctive defensive function. Depression, as a mental illness, can make patients more closed; Inappropriate defenses can form a part of the psychological disorder, even beyond itself.

According to psychological theories, the real cause of depression lies deep in the human heart, that is, character and personality. There is an observation that in the personality structure of a depressed person, there is a severe punisher, and this punisher will constantly monitor his or her words and actions, and if there is a slightest mistake or mistake, this punisher will impose sanctions and condemns in an extremely severe way. This kind of self-attack will make him blame himself, reduce his vitality, and have a low sense of self-worth, and depression will come unexpectedly.

Don't think that everything will be fine after taking medicine, and you must take responsibility for your own pain. The way to self-growth and self-healing is to cooperate with doctors, face their hearts, rely on "self-knowledge" and "desire for self-change", and solve the problems that plague them.

Awareness and reflection on human nature and life are the hallmarks of true civilization. If a person lacks the ability to observe and observe himself, no matter how successful he is in worldly deeds, the loneliness in his soul is the most helpless scar.

Psychoanalysts are mixed

Human nature and the human heart are subtle and complex, which determines that psychotherapy is also very subtle and complex, and it is more difficult to grasp than drug treatment.

Medication is the use of drugs to forcibly change the chemical environment of the brain, thereby improving mood; Psychotherapy is to help patients discover the distorted emotional power in their hearts, sort out the ins and outs, understand the relationship between it and their own problems, improve the patient's mood, and seek physical and mental unity.

Therefore, a good psychiatrist is the helmsman who guides the patient's ship of life. He must have quintessential professional knowledge, intelligent understanding, a cool head, the ability to empathize, love, patience and good psychological quality, and should also have rich life experience. The more pain he goes through and the richer his experience of life, the more he can help others.

In reality, a good psychiatrist is even more difficult to find than a good Western doctor. I've been through three psychiatrists, all three types, all unsuccessful.

The first is the lady. She claims to be often invited to give lectures by large multinational companies. She sat in front of me, polite, with a straight waist and knees together, her hands crossed on her knees. As soon as I opened my mouth, she took out a pen and drew on the small notebook, looking very professional.

She first asked me about the simple situation, and then confidently said, "If you had found me a month ago, you would have been well now, and you wouldn't have to go to the hospital at all." ”

Then, she began to reason with me: "Man is the spirit of all things, and the most different thing about man compared to animals is that he has a will. Disease is a thing that if you are hard, it will be soft, and if you are soft, it will be hard. It is up to the will to overcome the disease. The blade of the sword came out of the sharpening ...... "Hearing this, I said: "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold." She was stunned, paused, and said with some disappointment: "Yes." ”

Next, I wasn't interested in listening to it. She said words of encouragement, positive and grandiose. I later categorized her as an "inspirational type".

The second was a man. His hair was combed back, his head was large and bright, and his eyes were bright and bright, and he appeared to be wise and intelligent.

He started by telling a success story: someone, because of something to find him; How he comforted, how effective, how the other party was grateful. Then, he took out his phone, flipped through the text messages from the patient, stood up, walked around the table and walked over to me for me to see.

At the beginning of the conversation, he first asked me about my situation and then began to give advice. For example, when it comes to the high pressure and difficulty of work, he says: "There are two ways, one is to jump up and the other is to shrink down. If you are a young person, you should strengthen your study, improve yourself, and jump up; If you're in your 40s, and your learning ability is no longer good, then shrink down. You can propose it to the leader for an easy job. I don't believe you can't find a light job in the workplace. Cleaning the head office, right? ”

After speaking, he said to me with great understanding and sympathy: "Of course, this is easier said than done. Chinese just can't go up or down. But you can't help it now, you have to face reality. ”

After the conversation, he took the initiative to ask me to write down his mobile phone number and said, "In another week, you will come to me again and report to me whether you have done the methods you have been taught." If you can do it, you can get better slowly. Otherwise, I won't be able to save you. ”

I nodded frequently, but I forgot to save his phone number when I went out. Naturally, he was never looked for again.

The third is a lady. She was a "personality analyst" and was neither inspirational nor guided by worldly wisdom, but she was able to keenly grasp certain characteristics of my personality and piece out some pictures of my past life from the few words I recounted. Some of them are right, some are close, and some are wrong, but she has a complete logic of her own.

However, listening to her analysis, I think I know more about myself. No matter how correct your analysis is, it only proves that you are smart, what good is it for me?

When I disputed her analysis, she said, "That's your subconscious doing that." As soon as I say "subconscious", I am at a loss for words. The subconscious mind is the consciousness that I don't know, what else can I say?

When I mentioned that I was seeing a doctor at Anding Hospital and taking a lot of medicine every day, she looked at me sympathetically and said, "What kind of medicine do you take?" What's wrong with you? ”

She concluded: "Your depression is actually your subconscious self-choice. You've had a lot of injuries in the past, like your arm was strained by a knife. Now, you are going on a general strike in a depressive way to get revenge on the people around you who have hurt you, and make them anxious and miserable for you. ”

She also said: "I support you, continue to stay in this state for a while longer, and lose your temper if you want." When you want to come out, you come out. ”

I beg to differ. Because even subconsciously, no one wants to stay in a depressed state.

In fact, not only in China, but also abroad, psychological counselors are mixed, and it is equally difficult to find a good psychological counselor. It is not enough for a psychological counselor to stay at the level of solving doubts. Whether it is talking about the principles of life or the courage to overcome the difficulties of life, psychologists are not necessarily better than patients. It is not that the patient does not understand a certain truth, or lacks a certain quality, but that there is an invisible wind in his heart that prevents him from exercising his abilities.

Self-healing

It is precisely because good psychiatrists are hard to find that there is a widely circulated saying: be your own psychiatrist.

It's a realistic choice. The essence of psychotherapy is to go straight to the heart, and this passage is known only to oneself. Be your own psychiatrist, and the effect may be more thorough.

As far as psychological adjustment is concerned, the basic means is to replace unhealthy ways of thinking with healthy ones. The same thing, looking at it with different ways of thinking, will lead to completely different conclusions. Positive thinking sees the good side, and negative thinking focuses only on the bad side. The latter will be more pessimistic, while the former will be healthy and optimistic, and of course more aggressive. Learning to observe the positive aspects of things is an important training.

To be your own psychiatrist is to improve your ability to adjust your mind and consciously relieve the pressure from the environment. At a higher level, it is to jump out of oneself. It is like having a "third eye" in the spirit, able to observe the changes in one's emotions, find the causes of psychological disturbances, and correctly respond to complex realities.

Depression is one of the most complex diseases in the human body. From genes to brains to the environment, they are interlinked and feedback to each other. The weak points of individuals in the whole link are not the same, but they are all similar. Such complexity dictates that depression requires a scientific and systematic treatment.

Being your own psychiatrist is not an easy task. It is necessary to learn a lot of knowledge, including the scientific principles of the brain, psychological knowledge, and spiritual science knowledge, and apply them flexibly on this basis, go deep into the heart, and look at oneself.

This will not happen overnight, but if it is done, it will lead to a reshaping of life concepts and values, and even an opportunity for self-discovery and spiritual growth.

There is a poem that says:

When I really want to see myself

I may still be in pain

But no longer complaining

I know that

It hurts

Just because you meet your true self

I used to be the one who didn't know how to love

Through pain

Life is passing through and growing

I know that

There is a real universe within me

All the wisdom in life

It's all contained and fermented in it

I do

Continue to learn about and discover the unknown self

Constant encounters with reality

I know

By truly knowing yourself

I will truly understand life

and understanding the mysteries of the universe

Ancient Chinese wisdom has the theory of "the unity of body and mind", to the effect that the spirit is not an invisible thing independent of the body, but corresponds to the body. All the complex emotions of human beings have a delicate biological mechanism corresponding to them.