Depression Getaway

Memories and depression. You may be thinking that there are some things you don’t want to remember, maybe things which you believed led to this old depression.

But that is not the point I am trying to make this week. Apparently we depressed folks tend to overgeneralize when we remember. This overgeneralizing works against us. At least that is what this Oxford study suggests. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer is just about over. The teacher in me tends to start new projects in the beginning of September. It is an old habit that is hard to break.

Another habit that is hard to break if you are depressed is recalling experiences correctly.

I have done a little bit of remembering this summer on my ‘Memory Mondays’. It was sort of an experiment to force myself to recall some good times. I did it as a writing exercise and as an antidepressant. But I learned some interesting things during the process which I would like to share with you.

Have you ever been in a deep depression and tried to recall something pleasant? It is almost impossible when you are in that stage. But it is in that very stage that it might be helpful to do that. Read the rest of this entry »

This week we have been discussing memory and how we recall things, preferably good things, in our past.

Recent research has suggested that depressive biases in personal memory may be due to an inability to progress beyond a general level when trying to retrieve specific positive memories. This study produced further evidence of this phenomenon. When trying to access specific hedonically toned memories, depressed patients more often responded with a general memory and, especially for positive cues, were unable then to progress to a specific memory, even after prompting. The implications for cognitive therapy for depression are discussed.

This ‘inability to progress beyond a general level when trying to retrieve positive memories’ interests me. This summer I practised retrieving good memories on my ‘Memory Mondays’. It was a writing exercise I was trying out for depression therapy. I kind of enjoyed it. But now that I think of it, I could have tried to recall some of those experiences in way more detail than I did.

I think I may be one of those people who over generalize. And since these ‘experts’ are claiming that there is a link between that and depression, do you think I should try to work on that?

That is one of the things I do not like about all these reports I read. Sure, they come up with some interesting theories, that make a lot of sense, but they forget the ‘next step’. In other words, what should we do about it?

Next week we will talk about some solutions to this tendency we depressed folks seem to have.

I am so glad you dropped by today!

Join me again at ‘Depression Getaway’ and together we will…

…live, care, laugh, share, learn, discover, forgive and recover.

Don’t give up, I’m praying for you!

Wendy Love