The effect of mild depression on time discrimination

Abstract

Depressed mood states affect subjective perceptions of time but it is not clear whether this is due to changes in the underlying timing mechanisms, such as the speed of the internal clock. In order to study depression effects on time perception, two experiments using time discrimination methods with short (<300 ms) and long (>1,000 ms) durations were conducted. Student participants who were categorized as mildly depressed by their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were less able than controls to discriminate between two longer durations but were equally able to discriminate shorter intervals. The results suggest that mildly depressed or dysphoric moods do not affect pacemaker speed. It is more likely that depression affects the ability to maintain attention to elapsing duration.

Time, Emotion and the Embodiment of Timing

“…Some studies have failed to find any evidence of disturbed duration judgments for different levels of depression (Bech, 1975;Hawkins, French, Crawford & Enzle, 1988;Kitamura & Kumar, 1984;Mezey & Cohen, 1961;Munzel, Gendner, Steinberg & Raith, 1988;Prabhu, Agrawal & Teja, 1969;Wyrick & Wyrick, 1997). Other studies, by contrast, have found that depressive mood disrupts time judgments by causing time distortions and/or by reducing sensitivity to time (Bschor et al, 2004;Grinker, Glucksman, Hirsch & Viseltear, 1973;Kitamura & Kumar, 1982;Kuhs, Hermann, Kammer & Tolle, 1991;Msetfi et al, 2012;Mun- , 1988;Rammsayer, 1990;Sévigny, Everett & Grondin, 2003;Tysk, 1984;Wyrick & Wyrick, 1977). However, where time distortions have been observed, they have more often taken the form of temporal shortening, rather than the temporal lengthening described in depressive patients' statements (e.g.…”

“…In the same way, Tysk (1984) reported that severely depressed patients with melancholia or bipolar depression tended to underestimate short time intervals (7-27 s), while patients with manic disorders overestimated them and healthy patients provided accurate judgments. Regarding sensitivity to time, reduced sensitivity has been observed in students with depressive symptoms, but only for durations greater than 1 or 2 s (Msetfi et al, 2012;Sévigny et al, 2003). For shorter durations (<1 s), their sensitivity to time is similar to that of controls Msetfi et al, 2012;Sévigny et al, 2003).…”

“…Regarding sensitivity to time, reduced sensitivity has been observed in students with depressive symptoms, but only for durations greater than 1 or 2 s (Msetfi et al, 2012;Sévigny et al, 2003). For shorter durations (<1 s), their sensitivity to time is similar to that of controls Msetfi et al, 2012;Sévigny et al, 2003). Nevertheless, for patients with major depression and melancholia, Rammsayer (1990) also found poorer time discrimination for very short durations in the milliseconds range.…”

“…In all probability, they have nothing to do with the basic mechanisms involved in time perception (for a recent review, see Droit-Volet, 2013a). To date, the results of studies of time perception in individuals with depressive symptoms have been inconsistent and contradictory, probably due to the heterogeneity of the populations sampled (clinically depressed patients vs. healthy participants with depressive symptoms) and the diversity of the temporal tasks employed (Msetfi et al, 2012). Some studies have failed to find any evidence of disturbed duration judgments for different levels of depression (Bech, 1975;Hawkins, French, Crawford & Enzle, 1988;Kitamura & Kumar, 1984;Mezey & Cohen, 1961;Munzel, Gendner, Steinberg & Raith, 1988;Prabhu, Agrawal & Teja, 1969;Wyrick & Wyrick, 1997).…”

“…Depressed patients systematically report a slowing down of time. Depression is thus a mood disorder that changes the subjective experience of time (Gallagher, 2012;Msetfi, Murphy & Kornbrot, 2012;Ratcliffe, 2012). But which cognitive processes subtend this specific subjective experience of time, this feeling of a slowdown in the passage of time?…”