Semantic Distances in Depression: Relations Between ME and PAST, FUTURE, JOY, SADNESS, HAPPINESS

Abstract

Using the Semantic Distance Task, we investigated the semantic distances between ME and five metaphorically conceptualized notions: PAST, FUTURE, JOY, SADNESS, and HAPPINESS. Three Polish-speaking groups participated in the study: depressive subjects (n= 30), patients in remission (n= 12), and non-depressed individuals (n= 30). T-test and the Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric equivalent of ANOVA analyses showed that subjects in remission placed ME significantly farther away from PAST than non-depressed individuals and depressed patients. Data mining algorithms indicated the distances ME–SADNESS, ME–PAST, and ME–FUTURE as the three strongest predictors of group membership. We interpret the findings in the light of a contrast effect and defense mechanisms. We propose that intergroup differences are especially prominent in tasks requiring creation of semantic associative relations, that is, in the first stage of conceptual processing. We suggest treating the results as confirmation that Beck’s theory of depression applies at the level of notion comprehension, proving that processing of key concepts in depression symptoms (particularly PAST) runs differently in all three groups under consideration.