[Depressives have the better view - the influence of mood on the recognition of emotional expression].

OBJECTIVES

There are different approaches to whether depressed people perceive their environment differently than nondepressed.We analyzed whether depressed patients show greater deficits in decoding emotional expressions than nondepressives.

METHODS

A sample of 52 depressed patients and a sample of 72 nondepressed persons were investigated as to their ability to identify emotionally laden facial expressions (computer-assisted presentation of photos).

RESULTS

Our results demonstrate significant differences between depressive patients and nondepressive persons in the ability to decode the emotional states of others. In four out of six tests the depressive persons achieved significantly better results.

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that these results can be interpreted as further evidence for the concept of depressive emotional realism.