Depression Can Keep People from Accepting Positive Feedback
“People who are depressed tend to hold negative beliefs about themselves. According to cognitive models of depression, these beliefs are often out of line with reality. For example, someone with depression might think, “No one really cares about me,” even if they have friends or family members who clearly do. People with depression also tend to make overly negative predictions about how things will turn out. They assume social interactions will be awkward, job interviews won’t lead to offers, and romantic overtures will lead to rejection. Researchers have suggested that depressed individuals struggle with “belief updating” in the face of positive feedback. In other words, someone who is depressed might expect a job interview to go badly because they don’t believe they’re competent. And if they’re offered the job, they might tell themselves, “I guess I really fooled the interviewer.” In other words, they fail to use the positive outcome to update their beliefs about their own competence. The new research focused on a phenomenon called “cognitive immunization.” Just as a vaccine can make your body less “open” to infection, cognitive immunization can make your beliefs less open to change. The problem is that while we want our bodies to shut down infections, we don’t want our brains to shut down new evidence.
Imagine two different characters. Sad Sam struggles with depression; Content Chris does not. Sam and Chris both decide they want to learn computer programming and so they sign up for a coding course. Both Sam and Chris do well on the first assignment and get this feedback from the professor: Excellent work on your exam! You really seem to have a talent for writing code. What kinds of thoughts will Sam and Chris have in response to this feedback? According to the cognitive immunization approach, it might look something like this:
Chris: Cool. I guess I’m better at this than I thought I would be. Maybe I should look into taking more computer science courses.
Sam: I guess that assignment was really easy if I did that well. Or probably the professor is just being encouraging and tells everyone they did well.
What’s happening here? Chris is integrating the positive feedback into his sense of his own abilities. Sam decides the positive feedback can’t possibly be valid, so it doesn’t really change her views of her own abilities. The results of the study showed that participants with higher scores on the depression inventory believed the feedback just as much as those with low depression scores. But participants with higher levels of depression engaged in more cognitive immunization. In particular, they didn’t generalize positive feedback on their test performance to what might happen in the future. Instead, they assumed their positive performance on the task was just an exception. To go back to our example, Chris might think, “Well, I did well on this test, so I guess I’m pretty good at difficult tasks.” But Sam would be more likely to think, “I did well on this specific thing, but that’s just a fluke because I’m pretty bad at difficult things in general.”
In sum, what this study suggests is that people who are depressed might believe positive feedback, even when it’s surprising. But they may struggle to generalize that feedback, instead believing that when they perform well at something, it’s an exception to the rule. For example, if you’re depressed and someone says to you, “It was so great meeting you! I had a such a good time,” it’s not that you won’t believe them. It’s that this positive feedback won’t do much to change your view of how your social interactions will generally go in the future. This research suggests a possible cognitive “target” for therapists working to treat those with depression: helping to generalize from specific pieces of positive feedback to more general expectations about future events.”
Read the whole article here
#Depression #Cognition #Feedback
💬 What do you think about this study? Is it difficult for you to accept praise?
@globalBraid3744
Nice article
It is difficult for me to accept praises also and I might be my own worst critic sometimes it's sad lol 😕
@Optimisticempath
I get that! Many people find it difficult not to be too judgmental and critical towards themselves. Is this something you want to work on/or you are working on at the moment?
@globalBraid3744
Idk tbh I don't know how to work on it....
@Optimisticempath
People who are too critical of themselves usually have low self-esteem. Is that also the case for you? Perhaps exercises on this page could help you to increase your self-esteem. I find that with enough confidence, it is also easier to accept praise and to cultivate self-compassion: https://positivepsychology.com/self-esteem-boost-exercises/
@globalBraid3744
Yes terribly low at this time!
Thankyou for sharing the resource page , I'll have a look! 🙂
@globalBraid3744
When I get praises, I feel like they are just saying that to make me feel better. Either that, or I'll be like "Yeah, whatever" in my mind.
@FaithfulPrune9638
I get what you mean, not everyone likes to receive compliments. What are the things that people can do instead of compliments to really make you feel better?
@globalBraid3744 This study is interesting! Thanks for sharing it!
@comfortableNight4463
I am glad you enjoyed reading it! :)
@globalBraid3744 Thank you!
@globalBraid3744 It's hard to accept praise or compliments. I guess - I don't think too highly of myself - so I can't figure out why other people could or would. Tbh - I feel guilty to get praise or compliments
@mytwistedsoul
It is indeed difficult for many people to accept praise/compliments. Do you have any idea what makes you feel guilty about getting them? How do you feel about giving compliments to others?
@globalBraid3744 Honestly? I feel I don't deserve them. I have no problem giving praise or compliments to other people
@mytwistedsoul
Think about the reasons why you would give compliments to others - perhaps you want to acknowledge something they have done or you want to encourage them or you simply want them to know that you noticed their new hairstyle, etc. This is also why other people would give compliments to you. So you can try to look at compliments from this angle.
Usually, people like you (who feel they do not deserve them) are very humble. Every person deserves to be acknowledged and you are not an exception. Perhaps try to name some things you appreciate about yourself. You might have many good qualities that you simply disregard and you might feel they are normal even though they are something that you actively choose. This in itself is a reason not to feel guilty when someone wants to tell you a compliment.
@globalBraid3744
When I get praise or a compliment I usually say Thank you. Depression is a sneaky tricky disease. I remember I had this new job and after awhile I discovered I hated it. But I stuck with it because I was afraid to just quit because I might not qualify for unemployment benefits if I quit. I support myself and my cats. The training for the job was not so great and they made you feel like it was your fault that you were not learning it fast enough. I am positive I would have done great with a lot more training and support. I kept a positive attitude and telling myself I can do this. Despite that I was getting more and more depressed and anxiety ridden. After a few months the company decided to let me go and WOW was I ever glad. The stress was too high and I was miserable. It was a huge relief. So depression can be related to your circumstances also.
@pineapplepeanut
Thank you for sharing your story with us! I can relate to what you are saying - I recently started a new job myself. The whole learning process can feel so frustrating and then it is difficult to feel positive about the job and especially when you feel you have no choice. It is very important to have supportive colleagues and a boss at that stage. I totally agree that depression can also be related to circumstances. I can imagine the huge relief you felt when it was over. I hope you were able to find a better job! How is your situation now (if you do not mind sharing)?
@globalBraid3744
I was touched that you answered my chat. That job I was referring to happened many years ago. I am working at a job now that I am glad about. I am a baker in a supermarket. I do like to bake and make things. I am doing much better than that job situation year s ago. Thank you for caring. It meant a lot that you answered my chat!
@pineapplepeanut
I am very happy to hear that things are better now and you are currently doing a job that you like! Is there anything that you like to bake the most? I wish I would also be good at baking (but I am not haha) :)
I also appreciate that you took the time to read this post and make a comment!
@globalBraid3744
Yes, I enjoy making sticky buns and chocolate walnut upside down cakes. Thank you for your interest. I also enjoy very much eating chocolate walnut upside down cake!
@pineapplepeanut
I will definitely try it! I did not eat such a cake before but it sounds very delicious! I am a fan of nuts and cakes :) Thank you for sharing
Wonderful article. Makes so much sense.
@kindhearted70
Thank you for reading the post and for your comment, I appreciate it!
@globalBraid3744
what an interesting article! After thinking about it, I think the reason I don't really like to accept and believe praise is because it would raise the expectations I have for myself regarding my ability to do that thing. Like, if I did something, was praised for doing well, then later, when I do poorly at that thing, I'd feel especially bad and have some sort of identity crisis ("like, wait, I thought I was good at that!"). If I never believed I was good at that thing to begin with, I wouldn't be too disappointed with myself if I failed at it.
The idea of "cognitive immunization" is a really interesting one that I'd definitely like to explore more.
@globalBraid3744
QUite right.....i tend to think of praise as kindness being offered by the praisee (if there's such a word) rather than a result of what I did.