Science Psychologists decipher a kind of language code from depressives

People with depression change the way they speak

In a study from England, scientists have studied the way depressive people speak. Accordingly, depressives more often use absolute language. The identification of frequently used words and expressions could help diagnose the disease more quickly and even detect possible suicidal thoughts. The language changes according to the study both in written as well as in verbal form.

Depression changes the affected person massively. In addition to the sleep rhythm and the way you move and interact with others, the language changes as well. Famous people like Kurt Cobain have made a strong impact on others with such a depressive language style. A research team at the University of Reading has now explored words and linguistic styles commonly used by depressed people - with the goal of better diagnosing the disease. The results of the study were published in the journal "Clinical Psychological Science".

According to an English study, depressive people often use a different style of speech and words than people without depression. (Image: hikrcn / fotolia.com)

Well-known artists gave the hints

Previous findings in this area provided the analysis of individual depressive people. These include, for example, personal essays and diary entries by depressives and the work of well-known artists suffering from depression, such as Kurt Cobain and Sylvia Plath. Sound recordings of people with depression have also provided insights into the spoken word.

The results of this research have already shown clear and consistent evidence of language differences between people with and without depression.

Computer-assisted analyzes helped to break through

Compared to traditional methods of analysis, where texts had to be worked through manually, the scientists were able to process an extremely large amount of data using computer-aided text analysis methods. This allowed the researchers to identify linguistic features that more clearly identify depressives. Features include, for example, the frequency of certain words, the average sentence length, and grammatical patterns.

Which expressions depressives often use?

As one might suspect, depressive people are more likely to use words that convey negative emotions. In particular, negative adjectives such as lonely, sad or unhappy find frequent use. Also striking was the use of pronouns of the first person Singluar. Thus, the word "me" was used significantly more often by depressed people than by healthy ones. Likewise, depressives use significantly fewer second or third person pronouns like you, he, she or it.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

These speech patterns suggest that people with depression are more self-centered and less connected to others. According to the researchers, the pronouns are actually more reliable in diagnosing depression than the negative emotions. Now the researchers are facing the famous question with the chicken and the egg. Depression causes people to focus on themselves, or people who focus on themselves tend to get symptoms of depression?

Depressed people use absolutist words more often

The researchers also found that people with depression use words that convey an absolute size or an absolute probability, as always, completely or nothing. For example, in fear and depression forums, 50 percent more absolutist words were used than in 19 control forums.

In people with suicidal thoughts, the researchers even found an 80 percent increase. Also, people who have ever had depressive symptoms seem to have a greater tendency to absolutist thinking, even if there are currently no symptoms of depression. This could play a role in the earlier detection of depressive episodes.

What practical effects can the results have??

Understanding the usage of depressive people can help to understand how those affected think. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression. This represents an increase of more than 18 percent since 2005.

With these numbers in mind, it is important, according to the researchers, to have more tools available to detect the disease and prevent tragic suicides such as those of Plath and Cobain.

Improved research methods

The results of the study also show what possibilities modern computerized analysis methods offer. According to the scientists, improving machine learning classification with more complex algorithms can help to provide even deeper perspectives that can be applied to other mental health problems such as perfectionism, inferiority, or social anxiety. (Vb)