Entrapment and arrested fight and flight in depression: an exploration using focus groups.

The fight/flight system has long been recognized to be a basic evolved defence system. However, recent interest has focused on the consequences of arousing these action tendencies but blocking their execution-that is arresting them. Previous research has shown that depressed people can have strong feelings of anger (fight) and desires to run away (flight), but these 'fight/flight' defences can become blocked, inhibited, and arrested, which increase stress. This study used three clinical focus groups and one of psychiatric nurses to explore depressed people's own ideas of entrapment and arrested anger. Participants felt that arrested escape (entrapments) and arrested anger were important aspects of the experience of depression. Depressed participants clarified distinctions between internal entrapment (feeling trapped in a state of depression), feeling trapped in a subordinate role, and external entrapment (feeling trapped in relationships or life circumstances). Participants also clarified key reasons for arrested anger. Nurses had similar perspectives on the reasons for entrapment in depression but also saw fear of change and opportunities as important sources of entrapment.