Name: 憂鬱症的感受是怎麼樣的？ 💔 (What Depression Feels Like)
Uploaded: 2025-12-22T18:10:09.000Z
Duration: 6 min 1 s

If you have depression, you may feel sad, empty and numb or irritable.

如果你有憂鬱症，你可能會感到悲傷、空虛、麻木或易怒。

You may also lose interest in activities you once loved or feel constantly tired.

你也可能對曾經熱愛的事物失去興趣，或是感到持續疲倦。

Other symptoms include lack of sleep or drastic changes in your weight.

其他症狀包括睡眠不足或體重劇烈變化。

You might find it harder than usual to concentrate, feel worthless, and

你可能會發現比平常更難集中注意力，感到自己毫無價值，

lose hope that things will ever change for the better.

並且對事情是否會好轉感到絕望。

The impact is often physiological as well as as the immune system weakens, you are more susceptible to migraines or chronic pain.

這種影響通常是生理上的，隨著免疫系統變弱，你更容易出現偏頭痛或慢性疼痛。

Prolonged depression even leaves its mark on the mind.

長期的憂鬱甚至會在心靈上留下印記。

Studies suggest that it can lead to structural changes in the brain, including the shrinking of the hippocampus, a region critical for memory and emotional regulation.

研究顯示，這可能導致大腦結構的改變，包括對記憶和情緒調節至關重要的海馬迴萎縮。

This can reinforce negative thought patterns, trapping you in cycles of pessimism.

這會加強負面思考模式，讓你陷入悲觀的循環。

Meeting people once fun can feel like an obligation.

曾經覺得有趣的事，現在做起來可能像是一種負擔。

Some start to think that they are a burden to others and isolate themselves.

有些人會開始覺得自己是別人的負擔，然後把自己孤立起來。

Over time, it can escalate into profound indifference or a perceived inability to take any action, potentially stirring the darkest of thoughts.

長久下來，情況可能會惡化成深刻的冷漠，或是覺得自己什麼事都做不了，甚至可能引發最黑暗的念頭。

Your mental health is not a switch that flips between well and unwell.

你的心理健康不是一個開關，可以隨意在好或不好之間切換。

At one end, we have temporary dips in mood, a bad day or moments of grief.

光譜的一端是暫時的情緒低落、糟糕的一天或悲傷的時刻。

On the other end, you feel so tired and hopeless, even basic things like getting out of bed feel impossible.

而另一端，你會感到非常疲憊和絕望，連起床這樣基本的事情都覺得不可能。

Clinicians diagnose major depressive disorder when symptoms persist for at least two weeks and significantly disrupt your daily life.

當症狀持續至少兩週，並且嚴重影響日常生活時，臨床醫生會診斷為重度憂鬱症。

But a diagnosis is far from straightforward.

Unlike a broken bone, depression and other mental health disorders lack clear biological markers.

和骨折不同，憂鬱症和其他心理健康障礙缺乏明顯的生物標記。

沒有掃描或血液檢查可以證實。

Without clear markers, diagnosis depends on structured interviews, an inherently subjective process that can lead to misdiagnosis.

在沒有明確標記的情況下，診斷取決於結構式訪談，這是一個本質上主觀的過程，可能導致誤診。

One study found that 70% of patients diagnosed in primary care settings were classified as depressed, whereas bipolar would have been more appropriate.

一項研究發現，在基層醫療診所診斷的患者中，有 70% 被歸類為憂鬱症，但其實更適合診斷為躁鬱症。

But even experienced psychologists may sometimes fail to distinguish between major depression forms of anxiety or other mental disorders.

但即使是經驗豐富的心理學家，有時也可能無法區分重度憂鬱症、焦慮症或其他心理障礙。

This is because most mental health conditions overlap, a phenomenon known as comorbidity.

這是因為大多數心理健康狀況會重疊，這種現象稱為共病。

And there is an even bigger mystery, the origins of depression itself.

而且還有一個更大的謎團，那就是憂鬱症本身的起源。

For years, the dominant narrative was that depression stemmed from a serotonin imbalance.

多年來，主流說法是憂鬱症源於血清素失衡。

In response, pharmaceutical companies developed a range of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.

為此，製藥公司開發了一系列稱為選擇性血清素再攝取抑制劑（SSRI）的抗憂鬱藥。

However, recent studies challenge this explanation.

然而，最近的研究對這種說法提出了質疑。

Depression, it turns out, is far more complex and doesn't stem from a simple chemical imbalance, but

事實證明，憂鬱症遠比這複雜，並非源於單純的化學物質失衡，而是

rather from complex mechanisms that involve genes, neurotransmitters, and

而是源於涉及基因、神經傳導物質和

History provides striking examples of how depression arrives from different roots in different people.

歷史上有許多令人印象深刻的例子，顯示憂鬱症在不同人身上源於不同的根源。

At 9, he lost his mother, his older sister, who became a maternal figure died in childbirth.

他九歲時失去了母親，後來成為他母親般角色的姊姊也在生產時過世。

Later, two of his own four children perished before reaching adulthood.

之後，他自己的四個孩子中有兩個在成年之前就夭折了。

His melancholy became so pronounced that friends worried for his life.

他的憂鬱情緒變得如此嚴重，朋友都擔心他的生命安全。

Today, Lincoln would have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder that was triggered by childhood trauma and tragic life events, even though his reaction to what had happened was only natural and deeply human.

如今，林肯會被診斷為重度憂鬱症，這是由童年創傷和悲慘的人生事件所引發的，儘管他對所發生的事情的反應只是自然且深刻的人性表現。

Then there are people like neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky.

再來還有像神經科學家羅伯特·薩波爾斯基這樣的人。

He was raised in a stable, supportive family and yet still struggled with severe episodes of depression all his life.

他在一個穩定、支持性的家庭中長大，但一生中仍與嚴重的憂鬱症發作搏鬥。

The cause of his suffering might be purely biological.

他痛苦的原因可能純粹是生理上的。

Genetic studies estimate that depression is about 50% heritable in any given 12 month period.

基因研究估計，在任何給定的十二個月期間，憂鬱症的遺傳率約為 50%。

Around 5% of men and 10% of women experience major depressive disorder.

約有 5% 的男性和 10% 的女性會罹患重度憂鬱症。

Among children, prevalence is around 2.5%, but

in adolescents it may rise to about 3 to 10% depending on the study, pre population or sex.

青少年中，根據研究、人口或性別的不同，盛行率可能上升到約 3% 到 10%。

Among the most effective interventions is cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps individuals recognize and reframe destructive thought patterns.

最有效的介入措施之一是認知行為療法，這有助於個人辨識並重塑負面思考模式。

Medications can also offer relief, but their long term benefits remain unclear.

藥物也能提供緩解，但其長期效益仍不明確。

As health researcher Vinay Prasad wrote, the trials last eight weeks, then people take them for years.

如健康研究員 Vinay Prasad 所寫，試驗持續八週，然後人們服用多年。

Some say the best cures are sports, socializing or better yet, both, although if you have no energy to leave the bed, this may seem like wishful thinking.

有人說最好的療法是運動、社交，或者兩者兼具，不過如果你連下床的力氣都沒有，這聽起來可能有點異想天開。

But tell us, what do you know about depression and what has helped you navigate difficult times?

不過，請告訴我們，你對憂鬱症瞭解多少，以及什麼幫助你度過了艱難的時期？

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Conversation, too, can be part of the cure.

If you found this helpful, check out our other videos.

如果你覺得這有幫助，可以看看我們其他的影片。

Join us on YouTube or on patreon.com sprouts for more information, classroom exercises or videos without background music, visit sproutschools.com published under Creative Commons.

歡迎在 YouTube 或 patreon.com sprouts 上加入我們，獲取更多資訊、課堂練習，或是沒有背景音樂的影片，請到 sproutschools.com 瀏覽，內容採用創用 CC 授權。