Wendy Thomson
Introduction: The following study was part of a larger study designed to try to determine causal mechanisms and to explore in greater detail why premature death due to natural and unnatural causes followed discharge from hospital in a cohort of depressed patients. In this particular report the aim is to examine the specific relationship between depression and control.
Method: The association between perceptions of personal control, personality, and depression, was examined in a sample of 95 subjects. The test group consists of patients referred to a psychiatrist and diagnosed as depressed in an outpatient department.
Results: Clinically depressed subjects had significantly higher ratings on the perceived control item, reflecting more negative appraisals of control. The discrepancy between ideal and perceived levels of control was also significantly higher for clinically depressed subjects. Clinically depressed and normal comparison subjects did not differ significantly with respect to ideal levels of personal control.
Discussion: The more people perceive events as uncontrollable and unpredictable, the more stress they experience, and the less hope they feel able to make changes in their life. Furthermore, people with a pessimistic explanatory style tend to be poor at problem - solving and also tend to demonstrate poor job satisfaction and interpersonal relationship in the workplace. Those with a pessimistic explanatory style also tend to have weakened, and increased vulnerability to minor ailments (e.g. cold, fever) and major illness (e.g., heart attack, cancers), but also have a less effective recovery from health problems. The results suggest that there is an important connection between depression and control which needs to influence the understanding and therefore treatment of patients with depression.
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