Abnormal Body Phenomena in Persons with Major Depressive Disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Phenomenology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Depressive disorders involve disturbances in body, space, time, and intersubjectivity, often overlooked in diagnostic manuals.
• Phenomenological accounts of embodiment provide a theoretical framework for studying subjective experiences in depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To qualitatively investigate abnormal body phenomena (ABP) in patients with depressive disorders.
• To use phenomenological embodiment theories to understand the lived experience of depression.

Main Methods:

• Interviewed 550 patients with schizophrenic and affective disorders in a clinical setting.
• Collected self-descriptions to uncover qualitative features of experiences.
• Digitized and re-examined clinical files using consensual qualitative research.

Main Results:

• 99% of 100 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) reported at least one ABP.
• Identified four categories of ABP: slowed embodied temporality (N=90), anomalous vital rhythms (N=82), body worries (N=22), and body deformation (N=47).

Conclusions:

• Findings support phenomenological theories of embodiment in MDD and offer nuanced insights into patient experiences.
• ABP categories like slowed temporality can characterize psychomotor retardation and medically unexplained symptoms (MUS).
• Results aid in connecting MUS to neurobiological models and support a pathogenic model of MDD, offering differential diagnostic potential.