Fighting negative thoughts is key to treating depression

Millions of Americans who experience major depressive disorder will relapse, but a new study suggests that learning to focus on the positive, rather than the negative, aspects of your daily life may help reduce it kind of probability.

"We're starting to realize that it's not just about how people with depression process negative information, but also how they process positive information, which may Very important for sustaining negative mood or depressed mood.”

Thinking "it might be important to examine both," Yin's team analyzed 44 past studies to better understand how much time people with a history of major depressive disorder spend processing negative and positive information. The meta-analysis included more than 2,000 people with a history of major depressive disorder and more than 2,200 people without a history of major depressive disorder.

The studies looked at participants' responses to negative, positive and neutral messages, such as pictures of people or text that said they were happy, sad or neither.

Mental health participants tended to respond faster to emotional and non-emotional information, whether it was positive, negative or neutral. There was also a significant difference in the amount of time they spent processing positive and negative information.

People with major depressive disorder spend more time on negative information. The researchers are particularly interested in how people get rid of information that is no longer relevant.

"We all get upset when stressful things happen. It's a natural reaction," Yin said. "But some people can move on or put it aside when they have to get the task at hand done, whether it's talking to the kids or doing chores or whatever."

Others cannot do this. “Their previous arguments or some comments they heard keep coming back to their minds and then interrupt what they have to do at the moment,” Yin explained.

"What our research shows us is that people who have had depression in the past, even though they're not depressed now, what they're showing is that they have a harder time getting rid of irrelevant negative information than positive irrelevant information," Yin said. .”

These negative thoughts can take over, Yin says, instead of leaving space to do what is necessary in the moment.

That, in turn, could lead to more negative emotions, "if something stressful happens again, it might make them more likely to go through another bout of depression," Yin said.

In 2021, approximately 21 million U.S. adults experienced at least one episode of major depressive episode, defined as at least two weeks of low mood and loss of interest or enjoyment in daily activities. That's roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

The researchers note that more than half of the people typically relapse into depression within two years of recovery. So, what can people do to prevent relapse?

The most effective treatments for depression are therapy and medication, sometimes in combination. One of the pillars of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a widely used approach, is cognitive restructuring, said Dr. George Alvarado, a psychiatrist at Northwell Health in New York.

“It’s considering the scene, looking at the situation. Can I look at it differently? Am I interpreting it or misinterpreting it, or looking at it through a more negative lens?” Alvarado said.

A lot of therapy is about teaching people skills that they can use outside of therapy, he said. It can help make work, relationship, or lifestyle changes to improve mood. Good sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet are also important.

“Even if a person’s mental health is good, if these things go off the rails and you stop sleeping, you’re eating junk food, you’re sedentary, it can start to affect your mood,” Alvarado said. Having a family or personal history of depression or anxiety can also make things more difficult if you don’t make lifestyle changes.”

In addition to existing treatments such as CBT, Yin said, a training program could be developed to help people with a history of depression get rid of irrelevant information. Different people respond better to different technologies, she said, so it would be nice to have a range of tools.

“We still have a long way to go, but I do think that some existing tools, such as CBT and mindfulness, can help people better get rid of irrelevant information, especially negative information,” Yin said.

(compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor in charge: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: New Sancai first release)