14 DAY TRIAL // People who have been diagnosed with clinical depression are a lot less capable of distinguishing between negative emotions they are experiencing. The finding is very important because it could help explain why depressed patients cannot address the problem that led to their depression to being with.
In healthy people, being able to distinguish between multiple negative emotions is what enables them to figure out what the root cause of their problems is. They can then start to address it, initiating the mental process that will eventually make everything alright, PsychCentral reports.
“Our results suggest that being specific about your negative emotions might be good for you. It might be best to avoid thinking that you are feeling generally bad or unpleasant. Be specific. Is it anger, shame, guilt or some other emotion?” University of Michigan psychologist Dr. Emre Demiralp says.
Depression is a condition that affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of the population will pass through depressive episodes at one point or another in their lives.