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SAN FRANCISCO — Many hoi polloi tend to look back on the past with rose - colored glasses , remembering the safe times and the good feelings , while forget the risky .
But a new cogitation suggests thatheavy marijuana usersmay have some fuss letting go of negative emotions tied to store — a phenomenon that ’s also seen in people with depression . early inquiry has also unite marijuana use withdepression .
Although the new results are very preliminary , the findings , presented here Friday ( May 25 ) at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science , may offer clues about the link between marijuana utilization and depression . [ 25 Odd fact About Marijuana ]
Rose-colored memories
The study explored a psychological phenomenon called " languish affect bias , " in which citizenry run to adjudge on to positive feelings tied to their memories more than they hold on to damaging feeling . In other language , negatively charged feelings have-to doe with to our retentiveness fade quicker than positive ones .
Psychologists have hypothesized that this phenomenon , which is by and large visualise in masses without mental wellness experimental condition , may serve as a sort of " psychological immune system , " said report lead author Daniel Pillersdorf , a graduate educatee in psychological science at the University of Windsor in Ontario . This may be " so that we think more pleasantly in ecumenical , and do n’t have that cognitive loading of holding on to damaging emotions associated with memories , " Pillersdorf said .
Some old studies suggested that this fading affect bias may be different for people who employ drugs , but no subject field had looked at whethermarijuana usecould regard this phenomenon .
In the new sketch , the research worker analyzed entropy from 46 large marihuana user — most of whom used the drug at least four metre a calendar week — and 51 masses who did n’t use marijuana . The participants were asked to recall , and ply write descriptions of , three pleasant computer memory and three unpleasant memories from the past twelvemonth . The participants were then asked to value the intensity of emotion tied tothose memories , on a scale of negative 10 , meaning extremely unpleasant , to confident 10 , or extremely pleasant . They stag their emotion both at the sentence the memory was made and at the current time . ( Marijuana users were not under the influence at the time the researchers asked them the query . )
The researchers found that both marijuana substance abuser and nonusers testify fade affect preconception , but for marijuana users , the fading was a lot less .
" They were hang on to that unpleasant affect over fourth dimension , much more " than nonusers , Pillersdorf assure Live Science . " They were less capable … to exuviate that unpleasantness associated with their memories . "
The bailiwick also found that marijuana drug user tended to recall life events in more world-wide terms than specific single . For example , when asked about a happy event in the past year , marijuana users were more probable to respond with general or all-embracing answers , such as " I go on vacation , " rather than recalling a specific event or twenty-four hours , such as " I attend my college graduation . " This phenomenon is known as " overgeneralautobiographical memory , " and it ’s also linked with depression , Pillersdorf said .
It ’s important to note that the novel discipline launch only an association and can not set why marijuana users show less fading affect diagonal , and more overgeneral memory , than nonusers .
Link with depression?
Even so , the Modern findings check with former research that has notice a tie between heavy marijuana enjoyment and depression . However , investigator do n’t know why marijuana and depressive disorder are connect ; it could be that marijuana habit plays a role in developing depression , or that mass who are already depressed are more likely to use the drug . [ 7 Ways Marijuana May Affect the Brain ]
base on the newfangled findings , one hypothesis is that the decreased " fade " ofnegative memoriesin marijuana users could be contributing to the development or continuing of depression , Pillersdorf say . " It may be that chronic or frequent cannabis use is putting [ a individual ] more at hazard for the development or continuing of depression , " he say . However , Pillersdorf stressed that this is just a hypothesis that would need to be investigate with next research .
To further enquire the link , researchers will want to study marijuana users and nonusers over retentive periods of meter . For model , researchers could start with people in their later teens or early 20s who do n’t have low and see if those who use marijuana ofttimes are more likely than nonusers to eventually develop depression .
extra studies could also inquire whether other substances have an effect on pass off affect bias , Pillersdorf said .
The study has not yet been published in a peer - review diary .
Original article onLive scientific discipline .
