Three ways Depression Affects Your Thinking

When thinking about depression, one might think of feelings of sadness or hopelessness. However, when depressed, a person’s cognitive abilities are affected. Depression affects your cognitive abilities making even the simplest task seem impossible. 

Depression Affects Attention: Other Mental Disorders, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)  are known to co-occur with depression. People who have been diagnosed with depression may also have trouble concentrating or maintaining attention. Presently, there is no known cause of attention problems with a diagnosis of depression, but there is a correlation. 

Depression Affects Memory: Memory difficulties as a symptoms of depression are fairly common. A research study conducted in 2013 discovered that people who had been diagnosed with depression struggled with identifying objects that were identical or similar to an object they had just seen. After that study, in 2015, a study concluded that depression causes short term memory loss. For instance, a person with depression may not remember what they had to eat in the morning. 

Depression Affects Executive Functioning: Executive functioning is your ability to process information. It helps us manage time, shift our focus, plan, organized and remember important details. When diagnosed with depression, with our attention and memory being affected, our executive functioning abilities also decrease. 

Cognitive functioning can return after the depression is addressed and treated. 

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with depression & ADHD. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.