Color sensitivity and mood disorders: biology or metaphor?

A familiar but overlooked symptom in affective disorders is patient self-report of alterations in color sensitivity. Anecdotal and empirical evidence have suggested an association between mood and color sensitivity. The purpose of this pilot study was to test three hypotheses concerning the relationship between mood disorders and color sensitivity.

Using a cross-sectional survey design consisting of a sample of 120 inpatients and outpatients, color sensitivity was assessed by the patient's response to a self-report depression scale item, "I notice that everything seems gray/cloudy/drab/lacking color".

Color sensitivity significantly correlated with depression in the total sample (P=0.001). The other two hypotheses approached significance but were not supported.

These findings suggest there is evidence that color sensitivity is impaired during depression. Further research using a larger, more homogeneous sample and longitudinal design whereby measures of mood and color sensitivity are correlated before, during, and after treatment in depressed and manic patients would be justified. A study using ophthalmological instrumentation to measure color sensitivity would provide objective, 'hard' evidence of the association between color sensitivity and depression.

Whether color perception is metaphorically reported by patients to describe their mood or a biological phenomenon remains to be validated. Findings seem to lend support to the conclusion that abnormalities in brain function alter retinal function.