Depression isn’t necessarily a medical condition as much as it is a bad habit that we form within ourselves that we cannot get ourselves out of. One such bad habit is metacognition.
What is metacognition? It is the thoughts we have about the thoughts we have. People in depression tend to have layers of negative metacognitions. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to even realize we are in this vortex of negative, self-destructive thoughts.
A survey analysis of 1198 high students, ages 16 to 20, from two Norwegian counties, researchers assessed the participants depression, ruminative brooding, and positive and negative beliefs about such ruminations. While girls were more vulnerable to depression and its symptoms, the reason why people got into depressive thoughts were the same for both sexes.
The researchers found strong positive associations between negative beliefs about rumination and brooding, and between brooding and pondering. To no surprise, negative metacognition and brooding were strongly associated with depressive symptoms. Ultimately, the researchers found that negative thoughts about their negative thoughts fed into the cycle of worsening depression.
This study highlights the importance of cognitive behavioral therapy and not drugs for the treatment of depression. Drugs don’t remove one’s bad habits. One of the targets in depression treatments is addressing the pattern of negative thinking.
“Brooding and negative metacognitions can be both triggering and maintaining factors for depressive symptoms. So it can be useful to concentrate on this to prevent depression,” says co-author and psychologist, Ingrid Grønnæss. “This therapy enables us to help both people who are already developing increasing depressive symptoms and to prevent others from developing such symptoms.”
Don’t go to drugs for your bad behavioral habits. With the help of a good therapist, address your own inner nature and fix that.
Helene Pedersen et al, Metacognitions and brooding predict depressive symptoms in a community adolescent sample. BMC Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-03779-5
