Can depression occur after gynecological surgery?

Have you ever heard of the term "postpartum depression"? This term refers to the fact that pregnant women may experience obvious depressive symptoms or depressive episodes after giving birth.

In the past, people only thought that pregnant women’s bodies were seriously damaged after giving birth, and they needed to replenish their bodies through methods such as “confinement”. But now, with the emphasis on mental health, postpartum depression has also received a lot of attention.

Today we are going to discuss another condition - postoperative depression, which occurs after surgery, especially in female patients after breast cancer and gynecological tumor surgery. Although it is not listed as a separate disease, many articles have reported that patients with breast cancer and gynecological tumors have experienced depression after surgery.

Although we say that the causes of depression are many and complex, postoperative depression seems to be very reasonable - with such a bad illness, such a major operation, and so many parts cut out of the body - it would be strange for a normal person to be happy.

Then this postoperative depression state has many manifestations, such as:

01The patient is worried about the prognosis of the surgery and is afraid that the tumor will recur;

02 Losing hope in life and feeling anxious;

03 Feeling guilty, speaking less and moving less;

04 Sleep disorders - difficulty falling asleep or waking up early;

05No appetite;

06The most serious patients may become disgusted with the world and commit suicide.

Although this depressive state may be temporary and most people will correct their mentality over time, if not intervened in time, a small number of patients may develop a true depressive disorder - that is, depression.

Although modern medicine has a complete system for the diagnosis and treatment of depression, and the combination of medication, psychological counseling and other treatment methods is also very effective, treating the disease has never been a problem that can be solved by the unilateral efforts of doctors.

We can see that in many cases, the condition worsens due to the prejudice of family members or patients against depression. Perhaps they ignore it, thinking that it is just a temporary unhappiness and it will be fine after a period of time; perhaps there is a sense of shame or fear, thinking that admitting depression will make them become an outlier; or perhaps there are other concerns in their hearts.

But depression is an objective disease. It will not let you go just because you tolerate or ignore it, and its impact on you is far greater than you can imagine.

So if you or a family member reading this is about to go through or has gone through surgery, here are some things you can do to combat post-operative depression:

Family and friends care

The company of relatives and friends and an optimistic attitude are essential for patients, which is a good medicine for postoperative recovery;

Seek medical help

If you feel that the "unhappiness" after the operation seems a bit difficult to overcome, then what you should do is to seek help from the doctor in time.

References

[1] Li Ling, Shi Junping, Shao Xiying. Analysis of anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with postoperative breast cancer[J]. Chinese Journal of Oncology, 2014, 23(07): 580-584.

[2] Sun Shujuan. Analysis of the incidence and influencing factors of depression and anxiety in patients with cervical cancer after surgery[D]. Central South University, 2013.

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Author: Wang Yun, Shanghai Mental Health Center

About the Author

Wang Yun

Master of Medicine, Attending Physician, Shanghai Mental Health Center

Has been engaged in clinical diagnosis and treatment of psychiatry and teaching of medical students for a long time

2019 Outstanding Teacher of Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University

Secretary of the CSNP Chinese Depression Researchers Alliance

The first author has published more than ten papers in domestic and foreign journals

Expertise: Clinical diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety disorders, neurosis, schizophrenia, and consultation on general psychological issues such as study, work, marriage and love.

Clinic hours: Psychiatry on Tuesday morning, psychological consultation on Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning

Funded by Shanghai Science and Technology Commission's Science Popularization Project

(Project No.: 20DZ2311100)