Cognitive reappraisal consists of shifting the meaning of an emotion to adjust its emotional significance before the full development of that emotion. Regulating emotions through cognitive reappraisal lowers the negative impact and physiological responses of an aversive experience. A higher cognitive reappraisal of emotions leads to more positive emotions being experienced and expressed, and lower depressive symptoms and negative emotions. People with major depression disorder show lower cognitive reappraisal than healthy individuals. 

Cognitive Reappraisal and Major Depression Disorder

Positive rumination is an emotion regulation strategy in which the individual repeatably reflects on their positive experiences, preferable self-qualities, and their fortunate life events. Higher positive rumination is correlated to less depression symptoms. 

Positive Rumination and Major Depression Disorder

Savoring is an emotion regulation strategy in which the individual contemplates enjoyable past, present, or future experiences to extend and enhance positive feelings. Engaging in savoring is linked to having fewer depressive symptoms. 

Emotion Savoring and Major Depression Disorder

Emotion acceptance entails allowing emotions to unfold without judgment or intervention and embracing them in their natural state. Acceptance is an important part of mindfulness-based therapies and has led to improvements in depressive symptoms. When compared to non-depressed individuals, major depressive disorder patients have lower emotion acceptance levels, especially negative emotions. Furthermore, MDD patients report lower perceived success of acceptance in managing anger than undepressed individuals.

Acceptance and Major Depression Disorder

These are the most common adaptive emotion regulation strategies; these strategies help reduce major depression disorder symptoms.
* Acceptance.
* Emotion Savoring.
* Positive rumination.
* Cognitive reappraisal.

State University of New York at Albany

The use of emotion regulation strategies can alter a variety of emotional aspects such as the duration, stability, frequency, or intensity of an emotion. The success of emotion regulation depends on picking the right emotion regulation strategy and the efficient application of the chosen emotion regulation strategy. Some emotion regulation strategies are adaptive while others are maladaptive. Patients with major depression disorder tend to employ less adaptive emotional regulation strategies and more maladaptive emotional regulation strategies which worsens their symptoms.

Emotion Regulation and Major Depression Disorder

Liu, D. Y., & Thompson, R. J. (2017). Selection and implementation of emotion regulation strategies in major depressive disorder: An integrative review. Clinical Psychology Review. 57, 183-194. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.07.004

Emotion Regulation Strategies in Major Depression Disorder Reference

Adaptive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Major Depression Disorder

These are the most common maladaptive emotion regulation strategies; these strategies can worsen the symptoms of major depression disorder. 
* Rumination.
* Distraction.
* Dampening.
* Emotion Suppression.

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