Depression
Does saying 'I' more often link to depression and anxiety?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Using first-person singular pronouns while remembering sad events is linked to higher anxiety and depression in healthy individuals and those with eating disorders, but not in clinically depressed patients.
Key findings
For healthy controls and patients with anorexia, using more first-person singular pronouns during sad memories correlated with higher depression and anxiety. Surprisingly, this context-specific pattern did not occur in clinically depressed patients, who used first-person singular pronouns frequently across both positive and negative memories. Additionally, saying 'I' more often during negative recall correlated with brooding, a harmful type of self-focus, but only among the healthy participants.
Methodology
In the first study, twenty-five patients with anorexia nervosa wrote essays recalling their saddest and happiest moments. In the second study, researchers interviewed twenty-nine patients with chronic depression, thirty patients with non-chronic depression, and twenty-nine healthy controls.
Limitations
Because both studies used a cross-sectional design, they cannot prove whether focusing on oneself causes anxiety and depression or is simply a symptom of these conditions. The samples were relatively small, which limits the statistical power to detect smaller effects or subtle differences between the patient groups. The findings may not apply broadly to other populations, as the first study only included female participants.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Not yet placed on a claim. This paper has study layers, but no concept page yet cites it as support, challenge, or qualifier.
Related papers in this topic
Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.