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.
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