Toys for relieving depression

At present, there is no toy that can replace drug therapy and formal psychological intervention as a treatment plan for depression. However, certain types of toys verified by clinical practice can be used as auxiliary tools for professional intervention to help patients relieve symptoms such as acute anxiety, ruminant thinking, low mobility and so on. There are strong individual differences in specific effects, and there is no universal "God-level decompression toy".

I have done voluntary service in the psychology department of the Municipal Mental Health Center for two and a half years, and the most "hidden toys" I have seen are various shapes of pinching music. There is a 16-year-old hospitalized patient with severe depression and anxiety, who always carries a soft silicone peach in his pocket. Every time before consultation, when his mood collapses and he can't speak, he will hold the peach and hold it until his knuckles turn white. After three to five minutes, his breathing will gradually stabilize. His attending doctor also said that this gadget with less than ten yuan is the most suitable "emotional first aid kit" he found for himself.

However, regarding the role of toys in depression intervention, practitioners with different orientations have different views. Psychoanalytic counselors prefer toys with projection space, such as sand tools for sand table games, plush dolls and ultra-light clay. They don't have to force visitors to talk about things that are blocked in their hearts. They put them on the table and pinch them, and their subconscious emotions will be exported. I have seen a visitor who has been silent for almost ten times, put a sand table full of sunken ships, and cried on the spot. I have never mentioned that I had experienced layoffs and my girlfriend who had been in love for five years left six months ago. Cognitive behavioral counselors prefer toys that can quickly interrupt the negative thinking cycle, such as low-difficulty puzzles, digital oil paintings, and miniature scene assembly. These toys need your attention, which can just pull you out of the ruminant thinking of "I can't do anything well" and "I'll be like this in my life", and finish the positive feedback of putting together a small piece and painting a small picture, and can also help patients rebuild "I can accomplish one thing" slowly.

Of course, there are also many clinical workers who have reservations about the role of "decompression toys", especially fingertip gyroscopes and infinite Rubik's Cube, which are now popular online. I have seen patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. When playing fingertip gyro, I can't help but count how many times I turn it. Once I make a mistake, I have to turn it again. On the contrary, it aggravates my compulsive thinking and I can't stop for a long time. Other patients are sensitive to touch, and squeezing that sticky pinch music will only make them feel sick, but their mood will be worse.

I sorted out the application scope of several kinds of auxiliary toys that are common in clinic for your reference:

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I met a 32-year-old male patient before. When he first entered the hospital, he saw the children in the same ward playing with plush dolls and turned his head, saying that it was too shameful for the old men to play with them. Later, one time he couldn't sleep until three o'clock in the morning, and the nurse who visited the room handed him a long-haired seal doll, which he held for a whole night at last. Later, he told me that the touch of the doll was exactly the same as the cat he had kept for ten years as a child, and when he held it, he felt that the cat was still in his arms and didn't leave. Now he still has the seal on the sofa at home. Every time he suffers from insomnia or is in a bad mood, he holds it for a while, which is more useful than taking half a sleeping aid.

Of course, I have to emphasize again, don't blow the role of toys too much. I have met several patients. After playing puzzles for half a month, I felt that my mood was much better, so I stopped taking antidepressants privately, and I returned to the hospital within a month. Toys have always been "auxiliary", just like the shock-absorbing shoes you wear when you run. No matter how good the shoes are, they can't replace you when you run. You have to take medicine and consult what to do.

Don't blindly follow online celebrity's list. I've seen people spend hundreds of dollars to buy a box of online celebrity decompression toys, but none of them are to their liking. Instead, they are more upset because they have spent money unjustly. In fact, the toys suitable for you are not necessarily expensive. Some people like to squat on the ground and pinch bubble paper, and they will be in a good mood for ten minutes. That bubble paper is the best decompression toy.

In fact, to put it bluntly, these toys that can relieve depression are essentially a small "grasping hand" for people trapped in emotional quagmire. You don't have to force yourself to get better immediately, even if you hold it for ten minutes, finish half a puzzle, and hold a doll to sleep soundly. These are all small moments that you won in this battle with emotions.