On the evening of January 3, 2022, Luong Van Can Fund organized a sharing session by Dr Dang Hoang Giang with the theme “Depression: Portrait – Root Cause – The Way Out”. The session was part of the talk series “Youngsters in the world of post-Covid 19”.

This program was essentially meaningful and practical in the post-COVID-19 context when people increasingly focus on mental health issues. At the session, Dr Dang Hoang Giang shared detailed information about depression including the causes and treatment for this disease. Depression is an existential shift that causes depressed people to have distorted world views and lose faith in life. Depression may arise from past experiences or a toxic living environment, spanning a spectrum. Symptoms shown by depressed people can easily be misinterpreted as common responses. The patient’s emotion, awareness, body, and motivation are disturbed, which causes apathy  and may be dismissed as laziness. Additionally, the reactions of depressed individuals are often misunderstood as representing weakness and laziness rather than medical syndromes. Patients become more withdrawn and isolated from society as a consequence.

Dr Dang Hoang Giang suggested that students should take the initiative to adjust  their responses towards relatives and friends whosuffer from depression. Instead of trying to give them advice, they should open their heart to listen to their sharing without judgement. All that the students need to do is listen and appreciate their depressed relatives and friends. Those who have one of the signs of depression but can’t find anyone to confide in, you can seek help from mental health support channels such as psychological clinics or hotlines such as the Tomorrow hotline – a project for immediate medical assistance implemented by Dr Dang Hoang Giang

Following the information session, Dr Giang and the students participated in a Q&A session revolving aroundyoung people and depression in modern life. The questions posed and stories shared by participants showed that mental health-related issues, especially depression, require more attention in reality.

Luong Van Can Fund hopes that Dr Dang Hoang Giang and the program itself gave the necessary information regarding depression to help participants fully comprehend the issue and have a proper attitude toward depression patients. Kindness, derived from understanding others’ pains and gaining relevant knowledge, will let us get a better understanding to sympathize with depression patients.

We would like to thank Dr Dang Hoang Giang for accompanying the Luong Van Can Fund on the journey of mental health care for the young generation. We hope to see you again in the upcoming programs of the talk series  “Youngsters in the world of post-Covid 19”.

Source: LVCF Media Team