How can pessimistic people overcome the ``cognitive immunization'' that prevents them from accepting positive information?
People with depression tend to interpret successes and good events in a negative light, thinking, ``The praise I received earlier was probably just flattery'' or ``It must have been a coincidence that things went well this time.'' . Psychology Today, a news media specializing in psychology, has summarized how to deal with this problem, which has been proposed as ``cognitive immunization'' by new research.
What's going on in depression to make negative beliefs so sticky? | Psyche Ideas
What to Do When Psychotherapy for Depression Fails | Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-a-new-home/202309/what-to-do-when-psychotherapy-for-depression-fails
In a paper published in July 2023 in the peer-reviewed academic journal Clinical Psychology Review, Tobias Kube, a psychologist at Kaiserslautern-Landau University in Germany, said, ``Depressed patients receive positive information, that is, their own negative information. 'Even if we receive evidence that contradicts our beliefs, we may not change our beliefs,' he argued, especially in the following cases:
・I feel depressed.
-The information presented is extremely positive or only slightly positive.
- New information can be easily devalued using the strategy of 'cognitive immunization.'
Cognitive immunization is the reinterpretation of events that contradict one's beliefs in order to maintain one's thinking and expectations. For example, a person who believes that he or she is disliked may interpret other people's kindness towards him or her as ``just superficial'', ``just doing it out of necessity'', or ``just a social gesture''. Masu.
Similarly, people who get a good score on a test may give reasons such as ``the test was too easy,'' ``the grading was lenient,'' or ``I was just lucky.''
According to Kube's clinical research, this is because depressed patients are trying to protect themselves from future disappointments. Such people have experienced events that affirmed their negative beliefs, such as failures, and view these experiences as highly significant because they are associated with disappointment and discomfort. . As a result, people develop an attitude of ``I'd rather not take a risk than regret it,'' and choose to maintain negative beliefs rather than correct them.
Psychology Today lists three ways to improve when psychotherapy is ineffective due to this cognitive immunization. The first is to keep your mood a little higher when you come in contact with positive information. When you're feeling down, it's difficult to ``update your beliefs,'' so it's important to do aerobic exercise, listen to music, spend time with your pet, and learn to accept good events as they are. is.
The second is to keep the positivity of the information at a moderate level. This is because trivial information that is only slightly positive is easy to ignore, while information that is extremely positive is easy to doubt.
Third, increase the value of positive information by emphasizing its credibility and importance, and by talking about how ordinary people perceive such information.
'It's important for people with depression to realize that they're giving value to their negative beliefs, often unconsciously,' Kube said. 'Maintaining negative beliefs can lead to future disappointments.' While this may seem like a way to protect yourself from depression, it also perpetuates daily negative emotions.Remember that people with depression typically underestimate their true abilities. It would be a good idea to leave it there.”
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