Dynamic Relation between Repetitive Negative Thinking and Inhibition in Depression

Repetitive Negative Thinking, often called rumination, is a natural way of regulating human emotions. Sometimes, we all dwell on a particular problem, thinking repeatedly “Why does it always happen to me?”, “What have I done to deserve this?”. Usually, people have a whole pattern of emotional regulation strategies at their disposal and they choose the appropriate one, depending on the circumstances, their previous experience, or mood. If someone lacks flexibility in adjusting the emotional regulation strategies to the ongoing situation and by default has a tendency to ruminate, it might lead to impaired emotional regulation and consequently might increase the risk of mental disorders such as depression or anxiety. Research on rumination suggests that this kind of repetitive thinking not only increases the risk of depression, but it might also impair its efficient treatment and remission.

One of the main hypothesis is that excessive rumination is caused by the impairment of inhibition. Inhibition is an executive function. It enables people to stop their automatic reactions, habits, and routines. For example, people use inhibition when they encounter something funny, but the circumstances are not appropriate for laughing out loud, for instance, during an official ceremony or on a somber occasion. Therefore the researchers will map the process of rumination and will test what is the role of inhibition in this model. Before developing an effective rumination therapy for patients who suffer from depression or who are at a high risk of developing this mental disorder, it is necessary to conduct basic research, which will explore the relation between inhibition, rumination and emotional regulation.

The studies conducted in the course of this project will help to create a dynamic model of rumination, inhibition and depressive symptomatology in everyday life of patients and will allow to determinate what other factors might affect this relation. This research is a necessary step, required to improve therapies for patients, who tend to engage in excessive rumination.

Additionally, the researchers will test whether rumination-focused therapy can be supported by new technologies and whether inhibition training could be used in this type of therapy. Since rumination is one of the main risk factors in depression, which according to WHO affects 5% of the world’s population, the results of this research project will be of great importance.