Imagery as an aid in reducing depression.
Hypothesized that encouraging depressed Ss to attend to nondepressive daydreams could reduce their level of depression. Ss were selected on the basis of their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory from a pool of 350 Ss administered the Inventory. Ss were assigned to one of four groups: A no treatment control group, neutral daydreams, positive daydreams, and daydreams developed by the individual and the E. Each S in the treatment groups met with the E once a week for 3 weeks. Ss were instructed to practice each daydream at least twice daily. All measures were readministered the week following the last session. The change toward decreased depression was significant (p less than .01) for the three treatment groups, and the control group was not significant (p greater than .01). Level of depression can be decreased by diverting depressed Ss' attention from depressed themes to alternative daydreams.
D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination