Thursday, Mar 19 (Psych Centralhttp://psychcentral.com/news/2009/03/19/depressed-individuals-miss-out-on-good-things-in-life/4837.html) --
While depression is often linked to negative thoughts and emotions, a new study suggests the real problem may be a failure to appreciate positive experiences.
Researchers at Ohio State University found that depressed and nondepressed people were about equal in their ability to learn negative information that was presented to them.
But depressed people weren’t nearly as successful at learning positive information as were their non-depressed counterparts.
“Since depression is characterized by negative thinking, it is easy to assume that depressed people learn the negative lessons of life better than nondepressed people – but that’s not true,” said Laren Conklin, co-author of the study and a graduate student in psychology at Ohio State.
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This tendency to be a magnet for negative information is part of what is known as a negative bias. If you are aware of your bias, then you can adjust your outlook to take in more positive information about yourself and the world around you.
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