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Depression: 10 Fascinating Insights Into a Misunderstood Condition
Jeremy Dean/PsyBlog
Depressed people feel helpless, hopeless, worthless and that their lives are out of control. Easy enough to state but much harder to treat, and still harder to deal with. But depression is a much more complex condition than many realise. It’s more than just ‘being sad’ all the time or thinking that life has no meaning.
Here are ten fascinating facts about depression that provide some insights into a complex and very common condition.
1. No specific goals
People who are depressed have a tendency to over-generalise and abstract (“It’s all the same to me, I don’t care…”).
That’s why depressed people tend to have more generalised goals than those who are not depressed (Dickinson, 2013).
For example, depressed people may say to themselves: “I want to be happy,” but this gives no indication about how it will be achieved.
Non-depressed people, in contrast, are more likely to have specific goals like: “I will keep in touch with my family by phoning them once a week.”
Since they are so precise, specific goals are more likely to be achieved than generalised goals.
2. Rumination
One important symptom of depression is rumination: when depressing thoughts roll around and around in the mind.
Unfortunately you can’t just tell a depressed person to stop thinking depressing thoughts; it’s pointless. That’s because treating the symptoms of depression is partly about taking control of the person’s attention.
One method that can help with this is mindfulness. Mindfulness is all about living in the moment, rather than focusing on past regrets or future worries.
A recent review of 39 studies on mindfulness has found that it can be beneficial in treating depression (Hofmann et al., 2010).
Source: http://truthisscary.com/2014/10/depression-10-fascinating-insights-into-a-misunderstood-condition/
