In Times Of Anxiety and Low Mood, Focusing On Past Successes Could Improve Decision-Making

By Emily Reynolds When you’re going through a period of anxiety or depression it can be difficult to make decisions, whether those are significant life changes or more mundane, everyday choices about prioritising tasks or time management. And those with generalised anxiety disorder or mood disorders often report feeling uncomfortable with or distressed by feelings of uncertainty — which doesn’t help when you need to make a decision, big or small. Now in a new study in the journal eLife, Christopher Gagne from UC Berkeley and colleagues find that people with higher levels of anxiety and depression are less able to adapt to fast-changing situations. But the authors suggest that with the right intervention there may be ways to not only mitigate this distress, but to help those with anxiety or depression make better decisions in the moment. Participants were aged between 18 and 55; some had diagnoses of generalised anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, some had symptoms of both or either disorder but no formal diagnosis, while others had no history of mental illness at all. Those taking medication were excluded from the study, as were those with other diagnoses including OCD, PTSD and bipolar disorder. In the first study, after filling in measures related to anxiety, depression, worry and personality, 86 participants took part in a video game. In each round, they were asked to choose between two shapes: picking one shape resulted in a small monetar...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Decision making Mental health Source Type: blogs