While many people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with friends and family, some experience depression during the holiday, a psychiatrist said, urging people who exhibit serious signs of depression to see a doctor.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, which was yesterday, usually involves family reunions and, in the past few decades, gathering with friends or family to barbecue.
However, Cathay General Hospital psychiatrist Huang Ting-Yuan (黃鼎元) said that some people might feel depressed during the holiday, especially if they have lost a loved one or cannot celebrate with them.
Photo courtesy of Chia-Yi Christian Hospital
Five serious warning signs of depression include a continuous low mood or sadness, loss of interest in hobbies or activities that were previously sources of enjoyment, feelings of worthlessness, frequent thoughts of death or suicide, and physiological dysfunction, such as difficulty concentrating, moving slower than usual, changes in appetite, and trouble sleeping or sleeping too much, he said.
People who develop the warning signs should see a doctor for an assessment, he added.
In addition to depression, Huang said that “prolonged grief disorder” is now included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Prolonged grief disorder is when someone persistently feels intense grief for a loved one, for more than a year since the loss for adults and for more than six months for children and adolescents, he said.
Sometimes symptoms worsen during holidays and reunions, he added.
Many people go through the “five stages of grief” — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — during the mourning process, but they might experience them nonlinearly, Huang said.
People with prolonged grief disorder might experience significant distress or problems performing daily activities at home, work, in relationships or other important areas, he said.
Symptoms of prolonged grief disorder include feeling as though part of oneself has died, a marked sense of disbelief about the death of a loved one, avoidance of situations that remind them that a person has died, emotional numbness, feeling that life is meaningless and intense loneliness, he said.
Some people with prolonged grief disorder might also feel guilt for being unable to enjoy holidays or holidays might invoke painful reminders about their deceased loved ones, he said.
People who experience such feelings should seek professional assistance from a psychiatry center, especially if they exhibit serious warning signs, Huang said, adding that medication and counseling can help.
Family members or loved ones should accompany a person with depression through their treatment to understand their condition and show them that they are not alone during recovery, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and