Depression has become the second largest killer of human beings, how can we find out if we are suffering from depression?

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that there are more than 350 million people suffering from depression worldwide. In China, more than 54 million people suffer from depression, and more than 95 million Chinese people have had depression in their lifetime. The number of deaths due to depression is as high as 1 million per year, of which more than a quarter are Chinese. Depression has become the second biggest killer of human beings after cancer.

a

At present, the recognition rate of depression in China is only 30%, and the medical treatment rate of depression is less than 10%. The Beijing Youth Daily, the 2010-2011 College Student Mental Health Survey Report, and other big data statistics show that depression has become one of the main causes of suicide among college students.

From home to abroad, more than 50 celebrities have committed suicide in recent years due to varying degrees of depression, from Leslie Cheung to Shirley Choi.

Depression, which is becoming the second biggest killer of human beings after cancer, is estimated to affect 350 million people worldwide. Depression has been a hot topic in China's health sector in recent years.

In order to cope with the increasing number of people suffering from depression, the Health Commission has issued the Work Program for Exploring Specialized Services for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression, which calls for the rate of depression visits to be raised by 50 percent from the current rate by 2020.

b

According to the "Work Program to Explore Specialized Services for Depression Prevention and Treatment," in the future, the domestic healthcare sector will need to complete six key tasks, including strengthening prevention and treatment knowledge and education, carrying out screening and assessment, improving the capacity of early diagnosis and standardized treatment, increasing intervention for key populations, strengthening psychological hotline services, and carrying out timely psychological interventions.

The program specifies six key tasks:

One is to strengthen prevention and treatment knowledge. Requirements for pilot areas to strengthen sectoral collaboration, the use of a variety of means and channels of publicity, widely carried out depression prevention and treatment knowledge of science and publicity.

The second is to carry out screening and assessment. Require medical and health institutions, medical examination centers, colleges and universities to carry out depression screening through online and offline forms.

Fourth, increase the intervention of key populations. Mental health service measures have been proposed for adolescents, pregnant women, the elderly, and high-pressure occupational groups, respectively.

Fifth, strengthening psychological hotline services. It is required to build the psychological assistance hotline into a convenient platform for public mental health counseling, help, guidance, crisis intervention and referral.

Sixth, timely psychological intervention. Requirements around the establishment of a sound professional psychological crisis intervention team, in the event of emergencies in a timely manner to organize and carry out psychological guidance and psychological intervention.

c

Targeted at youth, maternity, the elderly, high-pressure occupational groups and other key populations, respectively, proposed mental health service measures. For example, secondary schools and institutions of higher learning have set up psychological counseling (consultation) rooms and mental health education courses, and are equipped with mental health education teachers. Mental health education is a mandatory course for all students in secondary schools and institutions of higher learning, and professionals are hired to give lectures every semester, guiding students to understand depression scientifically and seek professional help in a timely manner.