Sad Movies May Cause Depression Relapse

Researchers at the University of Toronto have determined that brains of people who relapse into depression differ from those who maintain good recovery according to MRI studies.
“Even though people have recovered from depression, they can still be vulnerable, or a little bit at risk, if they experience sadness or sad states of mind. How they can handle those brief sad moods has a lot to do with whether they relapse,” said by researcher Zindel Segal, the chairman of depression studies in the university’s psychiatry department.
Segal and his team subjected 22 individuals to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to visualize brain activity; half of the participants had successfully completed major depression treatment while other half has no signs or history of depression, and followed up for 18 months. The participants are also made to watch two neutral film movies, and then two sad scenes from the films “The Champ” and “Terms of Endearment” while their heads are scanned.
Researchers found out that some of the participants that felt sad while watching the movies had a pattern of activity in front and medial areas of the brain – areas that are associated with continued thinking and ruminating. And these people are more likely to become depressed again over an 18-month period. Others have activation of the lateral areas of the brain, and those were about 35 percent less likely to have relapses.
The results show that individuals prone to depression relapse tends to ‘internalize’ the sad scenes, while participants that view the films as ‘sensory experiences’ are more likely to recover successfully.
Segal added, “Cognitive training in how to handle brief dysphoric moods can be helpful in teaching people skills to regulate emotion and prevent relapse”.
But others, like Dr. Scott Langnecker of University of Michigan, say that the findings should be replicated and include more participants and movies. In short, a larger study is needed to provide better data for drawing conclusions. Still, the study is ‘really interesting’ and has potential for real clinical implications, added by Dr. Langnecker, who was not involved in the research.
Current treatment for major depression is still based on trial-and-error and those who showed improvements are still prone to relapse and had to be readmitted again for treatment.
“Basing treatments on observations of what is going on in patient’s brains might raise the success rate of a first treatment to more along the lines of 70 percent”, Dr. Langnecker added.