Time experience and time judgment in major depression, mania and healthy subjects. A controlled study of 93 subjects.
OBJECTIVE
Studies on the time sense of depressed patients have revealed inconsistent results. Manic patients have been almost neglected.


METHODS
Patients with a major depressive episode (n = 32), or a manic episode (n = 30) (both Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV, Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-confirmed), and 31 healthy controls were included. The subjective time experience was assessed by a visual analog scale (VAS), the objectively measurable time judgment abilities by the Chronotest, a computer program developed for this study, consisting of time estimation and time production tasks.


RESULTS
Controls reported a balanced, manic patients an enhanced, and depressive patients a slowed experience of time flow in the VAS (P < 0.001). In the time judgment tasks, however, both depressed and manic patients showed time overestimation for the longer time spans (P < 0.008).


CONCLUSIONS
This largest study on time sense in manic patients confirmed results of a divergent alteration of time experience in depressive and in manic patients but revealed an uniform time overestimation by both patient groups in time judgment tasks.
Department of Psychiatry, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. bschor@mailbox.tu-dresden.de
T
T
Bschor
M
M
Ising
M
M
Bauer
U
U
Lewitzka
M
M
Skerstupeit
B
B
Müller-Oerlinghausen
C
C
Baethge
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013998:Time Perception