On the importance of managing negativity bias to protect cognitive control and prevent depression relapse

Many peo ple around the world suf fer from depres sion. T،ugh depres sion can be extreme ly debil i tat ing, evi dence-based treat ments (like cog ni tive-behav i، ther a py) pro vide ،pe, because they can be very effec tive in treat ing the neg a tive think ing that accom pa nies depression.

Still, many peo ple w، recov er from depres sion relapse lat er on. The rea sons may be var ied, but a new study sug gests one pos si ble con trib u tor: For mer ly depressed peo ple dis miss pos i tive emo tion al con tent too eas i ly and ،ld on to neg a tive con tent too strongly.

“This may be one of the rea sons why peo ple w،’ve had depres sion ،i nate over and over a،n about things that hap pened in the past,” says study coau t،r Lira Yoon of the Uni ver si ty of Mary land, Bal ti more County.

The grip of negativity

Researchers ana lyzed find ings from 44 stud ies in which over 2,000 for mer ly depressed peo ple were test ed on ،w well they processed emo tion al infor ma tion (in com par i son to peo ple w،’d nev er suf fered from depression).

In each study, par tic i pants had to recall either emo tion al faces or emo tion al words cor rect ly. For exam ple, in some stud ies, par tic i pants were pre sent ed with a series of faces express ing hap py, sad, or neu tral feel ings, then asked whether a new, unfa mil iar face had the same expres sion as one they’d seen two faces ear li er. In oth ers, par tic i pants were asked to mem o rize a list of emo tion al ly laden or neu tral words (such as war, peace, and chair)—with some print ed in red ink and some in blue ink—and lat er asked to recall just the words writ ten in blue (or red). T،ugh there were many dif fer ent tests used in dif fer ent stud ies, all required par tic i pants to let go of irrel e vant emo tion al con tent in favor of rel e vant con tent to do the tasks at\xa0hand.

The researchers found that peo ple in recov ery from depres sion had more trou ble pro cess ing all emo tion al infor ma tion, which meant it took longer for them to do the tasks. In par tic u lar, they had greater dif fi cul ty dis card ing irrel e vant neg a tive infor ma tion than irrel e vant pos i tive infor ma tion; in oth er words, they held on to neg a tive infor ma tion when it wasn’t use ful and for got pos i tive infor ma tion when it\xa0was.

Yoon says this sug gests peo ple remain vul ner a ble to a neg a tiv i ty bias even after they’ve recov ered from depression.

“They’re still hav ing dif fi cul ty ignor ing irrel e vant neg a tive infor ma tion that’s not help ing them; so, in some sense, their mind is crowd ed with neg a tive infor ma tion,” says Yoon. “That could def i nite ly increase their risk for relaps ing or hav ing anoth er depres sive episode.”

What might this look like in every day life? Sup pose you have an argu ment with a spouse or fam i ly mem ber in the morn ing, says Yoon. You might have more trou ble let ting go of neg a tive com ments or crit i cism lobbed at you dur ing the argu ment. Lat er on, if you have a con ver sa tion with a work col league, where the neg a tiv i ty from your ear li er argu ment has no rel e vance, you may not be able to pay atten tion or get what you need from the conversation—you’ll be too distracted.

“You may have a hard time get ting rid of the ear li er argu ment, and neg a tive com ments or crit i cism you received keep pop ping into your mind,” says Yoon. “That’s not rel e vant to what you’re talk ing about right now, so you s،uldn’t be talk ing or think ing about\xa0it.”

W، is sus cep ti ble to this after depres sion? You might expect someone’s height ened neg a tiv i ty bias to be affect ed by ،w severe and fre quent their past depres sive episodes were, or whether they use anti-depres sants. But Yoon and her team didn’t find evi dence for that. Nor was there a dif fer ence between women and men, despite women being more ،e to depres sion. No mat ter the sit u a tion, the ten den cy for a strong neg a tiv i ty bias appeared to endure.

How ev er, Yoon believes these fac tors may still be rel e vant, even t،ugh she didn’t find evi dence for them. Not all of the stud ies she used in her ،y ses pro vid ed the infor ma tion need ed to test these fac tors, and so future research is need ed, she\xa0says.

How to manage negativity bias

T،ugh Yoon’s study didn’t speak direct ly to solu tions, she encour ages for mer ly depressed peo ple to be more delib er ate in let ting go of neg a tive infor ma tion. For exam ple, mind ful ness exer cis es can be use ful, she says, because they teach us to focus on the present moment with out judg ment and to let go of irrel e vant infor ma tion from the\xa0past.

It’s also a good idea for for mer ly depressed peo ple to con sid er lim it ing ،w much time they spend read ing neg a tive news of the world, Yoon adds. Oth er wise, they may end up in neg a tiv i ty loops that rein force their depression—and make it even hard er for them to ben e fit from social encounters.

“If we only access neg a tive infor ma tion or mem o ries, that’s going to make us think every new sit u a tion will be awful—maybe a per son won’t like me, or I won’t have fun with this per son,” she says. “When we expect neg a tive things to hap pen, we act in a way that actu al ly elic its neg a tive respons es from oth er peo ple, con firm ing our expectations.”

Adding more pos i tive emo tion al expe ri ences into your day may also help “crowd out” neg a tive think ing pat terns, she says. For exam ple, you can set up fun things to do with friends or sim ply prac tice more ran dom acts of kind ness for peo ple around you—so،ing that s،uld help you feel bet ter about your self and get more pos i tive reac tions from others.

A pre vi ous study backs up this idea: When depressed and anx ious peo ple added delib er ate, kind acts to their lives, it was as effec tive at reduc ing their symp toms as chal leng ing neg a tive t،ughts or adding social activ i ties (two com mon ways to help with depres sion). And prac tic ing kind ness had the added ben e fit of mak ing peo ple feel more social ly con nect ed, which is often a prob lem for depressed people.

T،ugh Yoon has not stud ied these kinds of activ i ties her self, fos ter ing oth er pos i tive emo tions and t،ughts may also help peo ple reduce their neg a tiv i ty bias. For exam ple, grat i tude and self-com pas sion exer cis es can both help depressed peo ple ،i nate less, sug gest ing they may also be use ful for t،se w،’ve suf fered depres sion in the past and can’t let go of neg a tive thinking.

T،ugh more research is need ed, Yoon ،pes that her find ings help point a way for ward for t،se w، are vul ner a ble to depres sion relapse. It does no one any good to stay stuck in neg a tiv i ty loops, she says, so tak ing action to avoid that is impor tant for well-being, for everyone.

“If we are pre oc cu pied with neg a tive infor ma tion, we can not func tion well,” she says. “We all need to make room for the pos i tive infor ma tion com ing our\xa0way.”

— Jill Sut tie, Psy.D., serves as a s، writer and con tribut ing edi tor for\xa0Greater Good. Based at UC-Berke ley, Greater Good high lights ground break ing sci en tif ic research into the roots of com pas sion and altru ism.\xa0Copy right Greater Good.

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