Scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that ruminating on our ruminations causes more depression.
The research is published in BMC Psychiatry and was conducted by says Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair et al.
Once you have depressive symptoms, it’s easy to fall into a pattern where you aggravate the disorder by ruminative thinking.
One of the key issues is what is called negative metacognitions, a phrase that needs an explanation.
Meta-thoughts—or metacognitions—are the thoughts we think about the thoughts we think.
Thoughts about our own thinking are not harmful in themselves.
Positive thoughts about our own thinking can lead us to reflect on topics we want to reflect on more often, and maybe even enjoy more. But that can go awry for some people.
Negative metacognitions can—for example—be thinking that depressive brooding is a sign that we are damaged, or we might think that our brooding is uncontrollable.
For some individuals, this ruminative thinking gives rise to thoughts that can be difficult to break out of. Those thoughts can quickly lead to getting wrapped up in a self-reinforcing, negative pattern.
In the study, the team surveyed nearly 1200 people aged 16 to 20. Girls and women scored higher on all counts, including depressive symptoms.
They also scored higher on both positive metacognitions, or thoughts that rumination is helpful, and negative metacognitions about their own thoughts. Girls and women ruminate more in general.
The team found that the main reasons for persistent depressive symptoms are negative meta-thoughts and brooding, and this applies to both sexes and regardless of age.
Getting better involves overcoming self-reinforcing patterns, thoughts, and actions.
The researchers believe that metacognitive therapy can be an effective treatment for treating depressive symptoms in young people.
Metacognitive therapy focuses on changing what maintains depressive illnesses: the depressive brooding and the negative thoughts about our own thinking.
If you care about depression, please read studies about scientists find a core feature of depression and this metal in the brain strongly linked to depression.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies about drug for mental health that may harm the brain, and results showing this mental problem can help predict dementia years before memory loss.
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