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You've Got to Have Hope: Studies show "Hope Therapy" fights
Depression
Newswise — A growing body of
research suggests that there is a potent way
to fight symptoms of depression that doesn’t
involve getting a prescription.
This potent weapon? Hope.
“We’re finding that hope is
consistently associated with fewer symptoms
of depression. And the good news is that
hope is something that can be taught, and
can be developed in many of the people who
need it,” said Jennifer Cheavens, assistant
professor of psychology at Ohio State
University.
Cheavens and Laura Dreer of
the University of Alabama at Birmingham
discussed some of the latest research on how
hope can battle depression during a
symposium Saturday Aug. 16 in Boston at the
annual meeting of the American Psychological
Association in Boston.
Cheavens measures hope in
people using a 12-item questionnaire
developed by her mentor, the late C.R.
Snyder of the University of Kansas. In this
measure, hope has two components: a map or
pathway to get what you want, and the
motivation and strength to follow that path.
“If you feel you know how to
get what you want out of life, and you have
that desire to make that happen, then you
have hope,” Cheavens said.
Hope is different from
optimism, which is a generalized expectancy
that good things will happen, she said. Hope
involves having goals, along with the desire
and plan to achieve them.
The potential of hope as a
way to fight depression is apparent in a
recent study of patients and caregivers that
Cheavens discussed in her APA presentation.
In this study, Cheavens and
Dreer examined 97 adults, most over age 60,
who had been diagnosed with macular
degeneration or other conditions that would
cause them to lose their sight.
The researchers looked at
measures of hope and depression in these
people with low vision, along with their
caregivers.
As expected, the researchers
found that, in general, caregivers were more
likely to have significant depressive
symptoms if the patients themselves had
symptoms of depression.
But caregivers who scored
higher on measures of hope showed fewer
depressive symptoms, even if the people they
care for were depressed. Higher-hope
caregivers also showed higher satisfaction
with life, and felt less of a sense of
burden.
“Hope seems to be protective
for caregivers,” Cheavens said.
The good news is that hope is
something that can be developed in people,
she said.
In a study published in the
journal Social Indicators Research, Cheavens
and her colleagues tested a hope therapy
treatment with a sample of 32 people
recruited through newspaper ads and flyers.
The ads asked for participants willing to
attend weekly group meetings designed to
increase participants’ abilities to reach
goals.
The researchers specifically
looked for people who were not diagnosed
with depression or other mental illnesses,
but who felt dissatisfied with where they
were in life.
“Many of the people who seek
therapy are not mentally ill – they don’t
meet criteria for depression or other
illnesses,” Cheavens said. “So if you focus
primarily on what is wrong with them, there
may not be much progress.”
“Hope therapy seeks to build
on strengths people have, or teach them how
to develop those strengths. We focus not on
what is wrong, but on ways to help people
live up to their potential.”
In this study, about half the
participants took part in eight, two-hour
group sessions led by trained leaders.
As part of these sessions,
they were taught new hope-related skills,
including identifying goals, ways to achieve
them, and how to motivate themselves.
Results showed that those who
participated in the hope therapy had reduced
depressive symptoms compared to the control
group that did not participate.
“We’re finding that people
can learn to be more hopeful, and that will
help them in many ways,” Cheavens said.
“What I think is exciting
about hope therapy is the way we are
learning from people who are doing very
well.
"We
have been figuring out what hopeful people
are doing right, and taking those lessons
and developing therapies and interventions
for people who are not doing as well,”
Cheavens said.
“And the great news is that
it seems to work – we can teach people how
to be more hopeful.”
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