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Mental Health Wiki > Depression > Treatments for depression > Complementary and lifestyle treatments for depression > Distraction
DistractionFrom $1Table of contentsWhat is distraction?Distraction is directing attention away from depression and towards pleasant or neutral thoughts and actions. How is it meant to work?Depressed people tend to ruminate (i.e. think too much) about how they are feeling. They believe that this will lead to a greater understanding of why they are depressed and how they can get better. However, ruminating while feeling depressed may lead to more negative thinking and make depression symptoms seem an even bigger problem. Distraction may interfere with rumination and stop negative thinking. Once the depressed mood has lifted, more effective problem solving can occur. Does it work?A number of studies have been carried out on the effects of distraction on mood in people with depression. These studies have looked at whether distraction is helpful for temporarily improving depressed mood. Different distraction tasks have been used. These include thinking about and visualising neutral things (e.g. the shape of the African continent or the layout of a typical classroom), describing pictures, playing a board game, or thinking about broad social issues. Distraction was compared with a rumination task involving focusing on “your feelings right now and why you are feeling this way”. These studies usually find that rumination increases or maintains depressed mood, whereas distraction reduces depressed mood. Distraction also appears to be better than alternatives such as sitting quietly. Are there any risks?None are known. RecommendationDistraction appears to be helpful for temporarily improving depressed mood. Other treatments are needed for more lasting improvements. ReferencesNolen-Hoeksema, S., B. E. Wisco, et al. (2008). "Rethinking Rumination." Perspectives on Psychological Science 3(5): 400-424 |