The most effective way to relieve depression and anxiety

Currently, the most effective method that has been clinically verified by multiple centers around the world and is the most adaptable to the vast majority of people with depression and anxiety is "symptomatic stratified intervention" - neither everyone has to force themselves to rely on exercise and mindfulness, nor should they go straight to take medicine whenever they experience mood swings. Instead, they first assess the severity of their emotions and core triggering causes, and then match the corresponding intervention methods. There is no universal formula, and the most effective one is what suits you.

Last month, I received a visit from an operator from a large factory. She was 27 years old. She couldn't fall asleep at 3 a.m. for three weeks in a row. She read "5 things you must do to relieve anxiety" that filled the screen. The first thing she did was to run in the morning. She set an alarm for 7 o'clock and ran for two days. She squatted on the ground beside the playground and cried, saying that she couldn't even do such a simple thing, so what's the use of living. In fact, it's not her problem at all, it's those "effective methods" of unifying templates that don't take into account the differences in everyone's status.

According to the consensus of domestic psychiatric clinics, if you have experienced physiological abnormalities for more than two consecutive weeks - such as waking up early for no reason (more than 2 hours earlier than usual and being unable to fall back to sleep), inexplicably gaining or losing more than 5 pounds in weight within a week, taking half an hour to do basic daily tasks such as eating and brushing your teeth, and being completely unable to concentrate on completing regular work and study, it is best to go to a regular psychiatric department for a scale assessment first. The commonly used Hamilton Anxiety/Depression Scale is a standardized tool commonly used in clinical practice, and regular hospitals will not make casual diagnoses. If you have reached a moderate or above attack stage, taking medication as directed by your doctor is the most cost-effective option. Many people are afraid of the side effects of taking medicine, saying that taking it will make them fat and dull. But to be honest, the side effects of new antidepressant and anxiety drugs are much smaller than the irreversible damage to the brain and cardiovascular caused by long-term abnormal mood. I used to have a girl who was severely depressed. She struggled with it for half a year. Initially she just didn’t want to go to work, but later it got to the point where she needed half an hour of mental training to even drink water. After taking medicine for two weeks, she was able to go downstairs and buy her favorite pearl milk tea.

As for those of you who are not yet in need of medication, the intervention ideas of different schools of psychology are quite different. You really don’t have to choose the “most authoritative” one, just use whichever one feels more comfortable.

For example, the core of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is the most popular nowadays, is to first overturn the "catastrophizing thinking" in your mind. Let's take the most common example: your boss suddenly sends you "come to my office". Is your first reaction in your mind "I'm going to be fired and I can't pay the rent next month. Why am I so useless?" At this time, you might as well take a note and write down three possibilities: the best case is that he will give you a bonus, the worst case is that you will be fired, and the most likely case is that he wants you to change your activity plan for last week. Most of the time when you panic for a long time, it's actually just a matter of changing your plan. I use this method to meet project deadlines myself and use it when I am so anxious that my heart beats fast. The last time my boss sent me a WeChat message at 1 a.m., my palms were already sweating. After listing the three options, I found that they were most likely to ask for last week’s consulting data. As expected, I fell asleep after replying to the message.

The humanistic approach is more relaxed and does not require you to be "positive" at all. Instead, it encourages you to allow yourself to be "useless". When you're anxious, don't force yourself to "stop thinking and do things quickly." You can find a place where no one is and curse for 10 minutes, or sit on the sofa and watch a stupid TV show that's not nutritious all afternoon. You don't have to feel guilty that "I'm wasting my time." Emotions are like floods. The more you block them, the stronger they become. If you open a small opening for them and let them drain away slowly, nothing will happen. I had a high school teacher come to visit me before, and I usually act like a teacher in front of my students. Later, I took my advice and locked myself in my bedroom for an hour every week to cosplay monsters and howl. I took the test again two months later. My anxiety score dropped by half, and I felt that my whole body felt more enlightened.

In the past two years, the field of neuroscience has also become popular with the idea of ​​"embodied intervention". It is simpler. You don't need to deal with your emotions, just deal with your body first. For example, if you suddenly have an anxiety attack and your palms are sweaty and your heart is beating fast, you don't have to force yourself to sit down and be mindful, just take a hot bath, or clench your fists for 3 seconds and then loosen them violently, repeat this 10 times, and if it doesn't work, go out and walk for 5 minutes. When your feet are on the ground, feel the touch of the soles of your shoes on the ground. Your body will relax first, and your emotions will then go down. This method is especially suitable for emergencies. For example, if you are rushing to give a report and are about to collapse, or you are so nervous before an interview that you can't speak, you can use this method to recover in three to five minutes.

Of course, there are many controversial opinions. For example, many people say that exercise is a panacea for relieving anxiety. However, clinical data also shows that for people in the period of moderate to severe depression, forcing themselves to exercise will actually aggravate the self-denial of "I can't even move, I am really useless." There are also people who praise mindfulness as magical, but for people with a history of trauma, forcing their eyes to close and focus on their breathing may trigger trauma flashbacks and worsen the problem.

I have also seen many people who have quit a terrible job, moved to a city they like, or even just picked up a clingy kitten. Their depression and anxiety will naturally disappear. This is normal. After all, there are no standardized answers to emotional problems.

I have been doing clinical consulting for almost 6 years. I have seen too many people looking for the "most effective" method. They try mindfulness today and try running tomorrow. After trying it for two days and it doesn't work, they scold themselves for being useless. Instead, they waste time on self-blame. In fact, it really doesn’t need to be so harsh. If you can drink one more cup of hot food today, scold yourself less, and sleep peacefully for half an hour more, you have already won.