Positive meaning of cognitive deficits in depression
Vol.8,No.2(2014)
Psychotherapy and neuroscience (thematic issue)
The authors report main ideas presented in a detailed study of Andrews and Thomson (2009) which was focused on examination of a positive impact of depression on analyzing complex problems. The authors present underlying evolutionary perspective for understanding depressive disorder. Other experimental papers that follow this line of thoughts are discussed. Based on the findings of presented studies the authors try to summarize the arguments which could be useful for psychoterapeutic practice: 1. nowdays there is a tendency towards supressing the depressive symptoms without trying to find the problem which might bethe cause of depression; 2. the goal of therapy is to restore the ability to experience sorrow; 3. for measuring the effectivity of psychotherapeutic or pharmacological intervention the appropriate control subjectis not the healthy one, but the one able to grieve in a „healthyway“.
Marek Preiss, Psychiatric Center Prague, University of New York in Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: reiss@pcp.lf3.cuni.czPavol Mikoláš, Psychiatric Center Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: pavol.mikolas@nudz.czMagdalena Bartošková, Psychiatric Center Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: magda.bartoskova@nudz.cz
analytical rumination theory; depression; evolution
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