Improved thinking ability due to depression?

The good side of depression: Researchers are the first to demonstrate improved thinking in patients with depression

06.05.2011

Depression increases the capacity for analytical thinking, according to a joint study by researchers from the University of Basel, Clarkson University / USA, Stanford University / USA, the Technical University of Munich and the Berlin Charité. For the first time, the scientists have found positive effects of the mental illness on the ability to think in their investigations.

In addition to the enormous burden that depressions bring for those affected and their personal environment, the mental illness also has a positive side effect, the researchers report in the latest issue of the journal „Journal of Abnormal Psychology”. In their study, in which the analytical thinking of the subjects was tested, the depressive participants had done significantly better than the healthy.

Thinking ability of depressed and healthy patients in comparison
In its latest study, the international research team has compared the thinking ability of people with diagnosed depression, patients who have suffered from depression and healthy study participants. Bettina von Helversen / University of Basel, Andreas Wilke / Clarkson University, Tim Johnson / Stanford University, Gabriele Schmid / Technical University Munich and Burghard Klapp / Berliner Charité found that the mentally ill study participants were much better at their analytical thinking ability than healthy ones or ex-depressive. They tested the subjects with the help of a computer game in which money was made through various choices, such as hiring a jobseeker. The study participants were offered a number of candidates, each with a specific value. The virtual job seekers were randomly presented to the study participants one at a time, and each participant could decide whether to opt for it or not, and to continue searching. The better the subjects chose, the more fictitious income they could get.

Analytical thinking of depressive subjects improved
The subjects with depression have done significantly better in the respective tests than the formerly suffering from depression and the healthy, the researchers report. For example, in the selection of applicants, the depressed participants would have taken much more time to analyze the job seekers more closely. While the healthy volunteers decided relatively quickly, the depressives were much more thorough in their considerations, said Bettina von Helversen and colleagues. In the end, they have made far better average decisions than the healthy or ex-depressives, the researchers report. Their study provides for the first time a proof that with the mental illness also positive effects for thinking ability can go along, write the scientists in the „Journal of Abnormal Psychology”

Effects of depression on the ability to think controversially
Up to now, it has been highly controversial in the professional world whether depressions are more likely to impair the ability to think or to improve, especially in the area of ​​analytical thinking. Although various studies show that depression worsens the cognitive performance of those affected, the effects on the mind generally point in a different direction - as in the current study. Many scientists, especially in the United States, argue that depression is a kind of adaptation of the brain to the complexity of the tasks to be solved. Those affected would approach problems more analytically and more persistently, which promotes solving complex problems, the researchers write. For the first time, the current study proves that depression actually brings about an improvement in the field of analytical thinking, the researchers conclude „Journal of Abnormal Psychology”. However, it remains unclear what consequences this finding could have in the treatment of those affected.

Often, stress is the cause of depression
According to statements by Florian Holsboer, director of the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, around four million people in Germany suffer from depression. This results in direct and indirect costs of between 15.5 and 22 billion euros annually, according to the results of a study by the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) presented in April. With dramatic increases in the number of depressive illnesses over the past decades, experts around the world are searching intensively for possible causes of the onset of depression, and are researching new treatments that could offer them a promising perspective. To this day, as the cause of depression in addition to genetic predisposition primarily stress is made responsible. Depression can be relatively successfully counteracted with the help of appropriate stress avoidance strategies, such as relaxation exercises, autogenic training, tai chi, yoga or acupuncture, but these do not provide real protection against depression. People who already suffer from depression, the stress-avoidance strategies can hardly achieve any treatment success anyway and it should urgently consult a psychologist or psychotherapist, since the mental illness can be a significant burden on those affected and their personal environment. (Fp)

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio.de