The Gray World of Depression 

By Míriam Zito

Studies carried out by scientists at the University of Freiburg, Germany, confirm that depression alters the vision and contrasts with which colors are perceived, hence depressed people see the world literarily gray.

Previous researches also confirm that depressed people have troubles to detect black-and-white contrast differences.

To verify certain parameters in the new research, the scientists measured the response of the retina of several people, subjected to neuropsychiatry and ophthalmology analyses using electrocardiograms of the retina of the eye.

The retina, located in the rear of the eye, contains sensitive cells that convert light into nerve impulses that the brain interprets to allow us move.

The scientists detected that depressed people, some subjected to anti-depressive treatments and others not, had a much lower retinal contrast capacity.

According to study leader Dr Ludger Tebartz van Elst, this effect is like watching TV lowering contrast levels, and this last depends on the severity of depression, that is, those with severe depressive crisis showed less retinal response. 

As the researchers state at the Biological Psychiatry journal, the study could lead to create a way of assessing the severity of the psychic disorder measuring the contrast of the retina.

When people are depressed, they are less able to distinguish contrasts in the visual field, and that loss can turn the world into a less pleasurable place to live, Tebartz states.

He asserted that the result could have far-reaching implications either for the research or for the clinical diagnosis and therapy of depression.

Cubasi Translation Staff