Sad people who force themselves not to cry, refuse to acknowledge that they are heartbroken, or have no appetite are more likely to suffer from depression.
- Globally, an estimated 5% of adults suffer from depression.
- This common mental disorder, which affects women more than men, can lead to suicide.
“We don’t like to feel negative emotions. But we don’t really think about the implications of balancing our short-term relief with our long-term health. Our research explains why it’s so important to feel all of our emotions”said Norman Farb, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto in Canada, in a statement.
To better understand the vulnerability to a new depressive episode, the researcher decided to conduct a study with other Canadian scientists. The results of the work were recently published in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical. As part of their research, the authors recruited 166 adults who no longer suffered from depression but were vulnerable to a new episode.
A different cognitive therapy
The participants were divided into two groups. For eight weeks, the first group, made up of 85 people, underwent wellness-focused cognitive therapy, while the other group underwent mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. “Participants were interviewed before and after therapy and followed for two years to assess relapse status,” can we read in the works.
The volunteers’ brain activity was also measured by functional cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they watched four excerpts from TV shows that normally wouldn’t trigger emotions and excerpts from a movie. that aroused emotions.
Blocking of physical sensations is linked to an increased risk of depressive relapse
According to brain scans, participants who reverted to depression were more likely to “shut down.” Clearly, when they were exposed to movies that evoked certain feelings, the parts of their brains that control emotions “shut down” more often than in people who had not once again suffered from depression.
According to the results, adults who reported higher feelings of sadness during the experiment were not necessarily more likely to relapse into depression. “What determined their level of depression was the extent to which that sadness was accompanied by sensory shutdown”said Norman Farb.
The scientist explained that when our brain blocks out sensory information during a negative emotion, we are left with only our thoughts to make sense of what is happening. But this does not allow us to have a broader view of the situation and leads us to have a negative opinion. “If the person suppresses these bodily sensations, their thoughts will accumulate into more and more depressive reactions,” added the Canadian professor.