Depression - Page 8 of 42

A Weird Depression Symptom Most People Don’t Know

Why depressed people cannot hold on to positive memories and emotions.

Depressed people have 30 percent worse memory on certain tasks, research finds.

Depressed mood stops people from holding information in their memory.

This may be why depressed people can find it hard to hold on to positive memories and emotions.

It can also help to explain how depression develops and persists over time.

In depressed people, memory is easily ‘hijacked’ by depressing thoughts, to the exclusion of all else.

Professor Bart Rypma, who led the study, said:

“People with depression or even healthy people with a depressed mood can be affected by depressive thoughts.

We have known that negative thoughts tend to last longer for those with depression.

However, this study is unique in showing that, these thoughts, triggered from stimuli in the environment, can persist to the point that they hinder a depressed person’s ability to keep their train of thought.”

In the study, 75 people read sentences that sometimes had depressive features.

The results showed that people who were depressed did 30 percent worse in a memory test when reminded of a depressing thought first.

Dr Nick Hubbard, the study’s first author, said:

“We all have a fixed amount of information we can hold in memory at one time.

The fact that depressive thoughts do not seem to go away once they enter memory certainly explains why depressed individuals have difficulty concentrating or remembering things in their daily lives.

This preoccupation of memory by depressive thoughts might also explain why more positive thoughts are often absent in depression; there simply is not enough space for them.”

Professor Rypma said:

“Interventions such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy are quite successful in empowering depressed people to recognize and better regulate the content of their thoughts.

Our goal is to continue to study how such therapeutic approaches can alter the depressed brain and how these alterations might result in better memory and outcomes for persons with depression.”

The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (Hubbard et al., 2016).

The Shocking Effect Of ‘Hidden’ Sibling Bullying On Adult Depression (M)

Around half of children were bullied by a sibling, sometimes with serious consequences, a study finds.

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The Depression Symptom Most Mistakenly Believe Is Purely Physical (M)

“I am no better in mind than in body; both alike are sick and I suffer double hurt.” — Ovid

"I am no better in mind than in body; both alike are sick and I suffer double hurt." -- Ovid

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Understanding Depression: 7 Intriguing Psychology Studies

From targeting the brain’s gamma waves to using magnetic pulses to realign the flow of abnormal brain signals, depression research continues to intrigue.

Depression treatments have come a long way since Sigmund Freud pioneered the analysis of dreams.

Neuroscientists now target the brain’s gamma waves or use magnetic pulses to realign the flow of abnormal brain signals.

Other treatments are more familiar, focusing on tweaks of tried-and-tested formulas, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy.

But one thing is for sure, the scientific research on depression continues apace.

So, below are 7 psychology studies from the members-only section of PsyBlog that give a flavour of the latest scientific research on depression.

(If you are not already, find out how to become a PsyBlog member here.)

The Fruit That Boosts Risk-Taking – May Help Depressed And Anxious

People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.

Sucking on a lemon could help you take more risks in life, psychological research finds.

Sour tastes, like those in oranges, lemons and many other foods, boost people’s risk-taking behaviours.

The effects could last at least 20 minutes after consuming the sour food, probably longer.

People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.

For someone who is anxious, leaving the house can require considerable courage.

Dr Chi Thanh Vi, the study’s first author, explained:

“Risk-taking can mean different things for different people; for some that is jumping out of a plane at 30,000 feet but for others it can be simply leaving the house.

But while it may have negative connotations for some, risk taking is actually one of the primary behaviours that leads to a happier life.”

On the other hand, those who need to avoid taking risks — like airline pilots — might benefit from less sour food in their diet.

Dr Marianna Obrist, study co-author, said:

“Our research indicates that sour does not provoke people to indulge in reckless risky habits, but does have unique attributes to modulate risk-taking and may encourage risk-averse people to take new opportunities.

This is supported by previous work which indicated that people suffering psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders could benefit from the use of lemon oils which also had stress-reducing qualities.”

Bursting the balloon

For the study, 168 people were given drinks flavoured with each of the five main taste groups: sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami.

They were then given a test of risk-taking that involved pumping up a balloon.

The more they pumped it up, the more money won, but also the higher the chance it would pop and they would lose everything.

People who drank a sour solution did the most pumping, followed by salty, bitter, umami and sweet.

Dr Vi said:

“We don’t know exactly what happens within the brain that controls this type of behaviour and it is something we would now like to pursue further.

We know what happens in the brain when people have a certain taste and we know what happens when someone decides a certain course of action but what is missing is tracking the neural pathway to show how taste can affect that decision-making process.

It could be that by taking that first bite of something sour we are already exhibiting some risk-taking behaviour to eat fruit which might not be quite right.”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Vi et al., 2018).

These Common Meds Increase Depression Risk — One-Third Take Them Unawares

The common meds that may cause depression, despite having nothing to do with it.

One-in-three US adults is taking prescription medications that can cause depression and increase suicide risk, research finds.

The medications have nothing to do with depression, and so patients and providers are frequently unaware of the risk.

The research also found that people who used multiple medications were at even greater chance of depression.

Over 200 common prescription drugs have depression and suicide listed as potential side-effects, including:

hormonal birth control medications,
blood pressure and heart medications,
proton pump inhibitors,
antacids,
and painkillers.

Around 15 percent of people who used three drugs simultaneously also experienced depression compared with just 5 percent of people taking none of these drugs.

The results were similar for drugs that listed suicidal feelings as a side-effect — using multiple drugs increased the risk.

Dr Dima Qato, the study’s first author, said:

“The take away message of this study is that polypharmacy [taking multiple drugs simultaneously] can lead to depressive symptoms and that patients and health care providers need to be aware of the risk of depression that comes with all kinds of common prescription drugs — many of which are also available over the counter.

Many may be surprised to learn that their medications, despite having nothing to do with mood or anxiety or any other condition normally associated with depression, can increase their risk of experiencing depressive symptoms, and may lead to a depression diagnosis.”

The study included data from 26,192 people between 2005 and 2014.

Unfortunately, the prescription and use of these drugs is on the rise, Dr Qato said:

“People are not only increasingly using these medicines alone, but are increasingly using them simultaneously, yet very few of these drugs have warning labels, so until we have public or system-level solutions, it is left up to patients and health care professionals to be aware of the risks.”

Dr Qato thinks health care professionals need to be more aware of the psychological risks involved in patients taking multiple medications:

“With depression as one of the leading causes of disability and increasing national suicide rates, we need to think innovatively about depression as a public health issue, and this study provides evidence that patterns of medication use should be considered in strategies that seek to eliminate, reduce or minimize the impact of depression in our daily lives.”

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Qato et al., 2018).

This Tiny Amount Of Exercise Reduces Depression Risk 43% (M)

While the WHO recommends 30 minutes moderate exercise per day, every day, much less can still be effective against depression.

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An Easy Way to Reduce Depression And Loneliness

Reducing loneliness and depression could be as simple as this…

Limiting social media to 30 minutes per day decreases feelings of loneliness and depression, research finds.

The study strongly suggests that excessive social media use makes people more depressed and lonely.

It is also ironic that less ‘social’ media use reduces feelings of loneliness.

For the study, 143 college students were tracked for three weeks.

Half were told to use social media as normal, while the other half were instructed to limit it to 30 minutes per day.

All reported their use of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram along with feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear of missing out.

Dr Melissa G. Hunt, the study’s first author, explained the results:

“Here’s the bottom line.

Using less social media than you normally would leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness.

These effects are particularly pronounced for folks who were more depressed when they came into the study.”

Dr Hunt does not think young people should stop using social media all together.

Limiting screen time, though, seems sensible, she says:

“It is a little ironic that reducing your use of social media actually makes you feel less lonely.

Some of the existing literature on social media suggests there’s an enormous amount of social comparison that happens.

When you look at other people’s lives, particularly on Instagram, it’s easy to conclude that everyone else’s life is cooler or better than yours.”

Dr Hunt concluded:

“When you’re not busy getting sucked into clickbait social media, you’re actually spending more time on things that are more likely to make you feel better about your life.

In general, I would say, put your phone down and be with the people in your life.”

The study was published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (Hunt et al., 2018).

Why Depression Makes Everyday Decisions Difficult (M)

The research may help explain why people who are depressed say they find it difficult to make ordinary, everyday decisions.

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