Although few people know this depression symptom, it’s frequently reported by sufferers.
People experiencing mood disorders like depression often say their thinking has become ‘fuzzy’.
Now a large study has shown that the effect is real.
Published in the journal Brain, the study tested the concentration of 612 women, two-thirds of whom had been clinically depressed or had bipolar disorder (Ryan et al., 2015).
The results showed that women with mood disorders did worse on the test.
Almost all those who performed in the bottom 5% had mood disorders.
Brain scans were conducted on 52 of the women.
These showed abnormal levels of activity in the area of the brain that oversees memory, reasoning and problem solving.
The study helps support the idea that people experiencing mood disorders really do suffer from fuzzy thinking.
Depressed woman image from Shutterstock
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