Two studies conducted in Israel found that people with major depressive disorder were more likely than healthy people to respond to pleasant stimuli and distract themselves from positive emotions. This behavior effectively shortens the duration of pleasurable emotional experiences. This study Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Sciences.
Depression, or major depressive disorder (MDD), is a serious mental health condition characterized by persistent and intense feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and lack of interest or pleasure in activities. People with major depressive disorder often experience significant impairments in their daily lives, impacting their work, relationships, and overall well-being. Symptoms may include changes in appetite or sleep, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and in severe cases, thoughts of death or suicide.
Rumination, especially negative rumination, is an important precursor to, but also a symptom of, depression. Rumination is a cognitive process that involves thinking the same thoughts over and over again, often sad or dark thoughts. Negative rumination can lead to poor mood, increased anxiety, and an increased risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression because you keep thinking about problems and negative emotions. Rumination can also be positive if it is imbued with positive emotions. Such rumination can be constructive, leading to problem solving and a deeper understanding of your feelings and experiences.
Research has shown that depressed people are more likely than healthy people to use emotion regulation strategies that reduce pleasurable emotions and increase unpleasant emotions. They tend to divert attention from pleasant topics to negative ones. Ruminating about specific topics is an important strategy a person can use to manage the emotions they experience.
In two studies, Yael Milgram and his colleagues sought to investigate how healthy and depressed people differ in their active selection of thoughts in response to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. They hypothesized that people with depression would be more likely to distract themselves from pleasant memories and ruminate on unpleasant ones.
The first study included 38 students diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 39 healthy controls, all from Hebrew University in Israel. The researchers identified potential participants through a large student group and confirmed the diagnosis of major depressive disorder through a clinical procedure.
These researchers asked their student participants to engage in rumination (“think about your initial emotional reaction to the event and what made you feel that way, and repeat it over and over in your mind.'') Don't try to change your behavior.'' Distraction (“Think about something unrelated and neutral to the event. Concentrate on the details of the neutral event and repeat it in your mind. Don’t think about the original event. ”) regulates feelings about the event.
The researchers then asked participants to identify pleasant events (e.g., “Events that made me feel wanted and loved”) or unpleasant events (e.g., “Events that made me feel lonely”) that had happened in the past six months. ). After participants reflected on their current emotions, they chose to use an electronic device to ruminate or distract themselves depending on the memory. They were given one minute of his time to apply their chosen strategy, and then re-evaluate their feelings. This process he repeated twice. In the first round, participants spontaneously chose between rumination and distraction, and in the second round they were instructed to choose the strategy they thought would improve their mood.
The purpose of the second study was to test whether people with depression are more likely to distract themselves from pleasurable emotions in their daily lives than healthy controls. The study involved 61 students with major depressive disorder and 62 healthy controls. This ecological momentary assessment study required participants to report four times a day on their current mood, their mood over the past two hours, and their use of distraction and rumination during that time. They also reported a desire to feel happy, calm, sad, or anxious in the past two hours. The data collection phase lasted 10 days.
Results from the first study showed that depressed patients were more likely to choose distraction rather than rumination in response to pleasant memories compared to healthy controls. However, there were no significant differences in responses to negative memories. No differences were observed between the two groups when they were instructed to choose a strategy they thought would make them feel better.
In a second study, depressed patients reported distracting themselves more frequently than healthy controls to avoid pleasurable emotions. However, both groups used positive rumination similarly. Interestingly, participants with depression were better able to distract themselves from unpleasant emotions than controls, but they engaged in more negative rumination.
When considering motivations for specific emotions, we found that patients with depression were more likely to experience negative emotions such as sadness and anxiety in their daily lives. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding their motivation to experience positive emotions.
“In Study 1, people with depression were more likely than controls to choose distraction in response to pleasant memories (vs. positive rumination), resulting in fewer pleasant emotions and fewer unpleasant emotions. Emotionality increased. Healthy people prefer positive rumination over distraction in response to pleasant memories, reflecting their pleasure-oriented preferences, whereas depressed people are more agnostic and less likely to be distracted. ” concluded the study authors.
“This pattern of emotion regulation was also evident in everyday life (Study 2), as depressed individuals were more likely than controls to distract themselves from pleasant emotions (although they were also more likely to ruminate about pleasurable emotions). These findings suggest that distraction from pleasurable emotions may be a feature of depression, and that, at least in some cases, depressed people actively choose to take advantage of it. I am.”
This study sheds light on important psychological mechanisms seen in depression. However, please note that all participants are students. Results may not be the same for other demographics and age groups.
paper, “Do you choose to avoid the positive? Choosing emotion regulation strategies in depression” authors are Yael Milgram, Shir Mizrahi Rakan, Jutta Joman, Mor Nahum, Orly Simonyi, and Maya Tamir.
