When a person experiences anxiety or is in a state of depression, his mind is clouded and in stressful situations it is much harder for him to analyze the situation and find a solution to the problem.
New showed how people who have pronounced symptoms of depression and anxiety are looking for information in situations of uncertainty. According to study author Ryan Smith, principal investigator at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, the results will help to better understand and treat emotional disorders.
“Some people continue to feel very insecure, even with experience in this or that situation. These people keep looking for information to bring clarity, and it can take too long for them to establish a successful behavior pattern,” says Smith.
To get to the bottom of the problem, 115 men and 301 women from the University of Arizona and the surrounding community took part in the study. They assessed their levels of depression and anxiety, and also took a special test called the Horizon Task, which examines the way people collect information.
Smith and his team found that people who exhibit severe symptoms of depression and anxiety tend to collect a lot of information in situations of uncertainty and fail to rely on the knowledge they already have. In situations where the search for new knowledge is useless, on the contrary, they collect a lot of chaotic information.
The results are consistent with previous studies that have shown that depression and anxiety are associated with uncertainty intolerance. But the study, like any other, includes some caveats.
For example, the researchers didn’t study people with severe depression or anxiety disorders, so it’s not clear whether the results would be different when comparing healthy people with people diagnosed with emotional disorders.
However, the study provides insight into how depression and anxiety potentially affect information-seeking behavior. The results reflect patterns of behavior in depression and anxiety, which may open up new avenues for treating emotional disorders.
Ryan Smith, Samuel Taylor, Robert C. Wilson and others. «Lower Levels of Directed Exploration and Reflective Thinking Are Associated With Greater Anxiety and Depression», Frontiers in Psychiatry. 07 January 2022.