Originally Author: December 12, 2010
Updated: April 2, 2025
When I am depressed, I don’t remember what it is like not to be depressed.
Although, logically, I can affirm that I have spent great pieces of my life on major depression, when I am depressed, I feel that this is not true. I do not remember not having depressed emotions. I can literally remember how you feel not depressed. This is called the state dependent. Logic ceases to be convincing. I understand that there is a high statistical probability that depression passes. But I can’t believe it, I can’t remember it, when it is depressed. I’m not alone; People with depression frequently suffer from Memory with mood.
How depression affects emotional memory
I do not remember not being depressed because (for the sake of simplicity) there are two types of memory, physical and emotional. Physical memory is quite simple. You, or not, remember an event? I remember my high school graduation, for example. I remember the salad I just eat. I remember the cause of the bruises in my thigh. I remember these things, but I have no real emotion attached to them.
This type of memory is simple. Quantitative.
What is emotional memory and how is it affected by depression?
Emotional memory is a bit different. Not only do you remember the event, but also remember what felt I like to live the event. With luck, this is a collection of positive emotions. How he felt when he kept his son for the first time, how it was to walk the stage to obtain his title, or how his first paratrooper made him feel are examples of emotional memory. When you remember these things, you can really feel The emotions of those moments.
Emotion, depression and memory
What happens with depression is that Depression shocks your emotional memory for everything except depression. Depression plays tricks with your brain. The depressed emotion does so that you Not power Remember feeling depressed. Depression tries to make you believe that this Sad and depressed emotional state is Your life It was always Your life, and will do so Always be Your life. This is a lie. The more you create this lie, the more it will become true.
Emotion and memory are complicated in terms of neurobiology, but it is enough to understand that when memories are written, emotions are closely linked to them. It’s like putting your umbrella right next to your waterproof. One always reminds you of the other. As when you are happy and you see a party hat, you are likely to remember a time when you were happy.
And that works well. When you need your umbrella, you are remembered to take your waterproof and vice versa. You are a very cozy and dry person.
But then, one day, it is raining outside and your umbrella is gone. You see a solar hood and there are no umbrella. And then you forget to use your waterproof. In fact, you not only forget your waterproof, but you can’t even remember where you put it; You may not even remember to look.
That is depression. Depression steals your umbrella and ends up soaked, all the time.
It is actually neurobiological. If you are really sad and depressed, and you see a party hat, it is more likely to remember the birthday when you could not stop crying because the clown scared you, a sad memory.
And because depression is a persistent state of sadness, the Written memories when you are depressed are attached to sadness. In addition, the memories you can remember during depression is much more likely that they are also sad.
Why some happy memories resist depression
I’ve been Listening to the Barenada Ladies Since I was 12 years old. I have had many very good times singing with them (yes, I am that girl). They are shipyard and happy, and they have brought me joy almost forever.
I saw the movie Rupture When I was about 14 years old, and if you are in my age group, you will know, it was definitive he movie. Keanu and Patrick were hot, the girl was hot, and almost everything they did was terribly naughty and sexy. In addition, I have something for bank thieves. And there is a Paratroidism scene (however enormously inaccurate). It was a «great thing» shared among my classmates. I felt enjoying and happiness when I saw him, again and again.
Can positive stimuli break depression?
They were really good memories not contaminated by mental health problems (unless you consider being obsessed with Keanu a sign of latent mental health problems, which could). These memories are before I became bipolar, depressed, crazy and similar.
And the strange thing is that if I listen to the barely ladies or Rupture It is on television, it could actually smile a bit through my depression. Somehow, their memories are so linked to the enjoyment of seeing them, sometimes, they can break depression. Other stimuli twist quite easily in memories and depressing thoughts, but these young memories seem firm against such treatment.
I suspect that this is because these memories were printed before bipolar, depression and crazy people. It is much more difficult for me to come for purely happy and not contaminated memories after crazy.
🧠 TL; DR – This experience is backed by science
These intuitive ideas are highly consisting of research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience:
- Depression affects the memory and coding of memory, especially favoring negative emotional material.
- People cannot easily access positive emotional memories when they are in a bad mood due to the mood withdrawal.
- Strong and positive emotional memories from before the beginning of the disease can be more resistant to depressive interference.
Ask:
Why don’t I remember being happy when I’m depressed?
Answer:
Depression impacts memory by making it harder to remember positive emotions, a phenomenon known as State -dependent memory and Memory of mood. This means that when you are depressed, your brain mostly recover sad or negative memories.
A question for you
Does anyone else have different stimuli that are not depressed despite the fact that everything else in the world seems to be? Are you related to previous experiences? Are you a victim of the state dependent?
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