OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic examination of the relationship between depression and crying by reviewing all relevant theory and empirical data including the performance of crying items in measures of depression. METHOD: Review of the extant literature on depression and crying using PubMed, PsychInfo and Google Scholar databases. RESULTS: Scores on crying items of depression inventories correlate moderately with overall depression severity. Otherwise, there is surprisingly little evidence for the widespread claim that depression leads to more frequent and/or easier crying. There is also little empirical support for the competing claim that severely depressed individuals lose their capacity to cry. CONCLUSION: Current claims about the relationship between depression and crying lack a robust empirical foundation. Assessment instruments and diagnostic systems for mood disorders are inconsistent in how they handle crying as a symptom. Further work to investigate the causes and the context of crying in depressed patients is needed.
OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic examination of the relationship between depression and crying by reviewing all relevant theory and empirical data including the performance of crying items in measures of depression. METHOD: Review of the extant literature on depression and crying using PubMed, PsychInfo and Google Scholar databases. RESULTS: Scores on crying items of depression inventories correlate moderately with overall depression severity. Otherwise, there is surprisingly little evidence for the widespread claim that depression leads to more frequent and/or easier crying. There is also little empirical support for the competing claim that severely depressed individuals lose their capacity to cry. CONCLUSION: Current claims about the relationship between depression and crying lack a robust empirical foundation. Assessment instruments and diagnostic systems for mood disorders are inconsistent in how they handle crying as a symptom. Further work to investigate the causes and the context of crying in depressedpatients is needed.
Authors: Michael C Craig; Vaheshta Sethna; Maria Gudbrandsen; Carmine M Pariante; Trudi Seneviratne; Vladimira Stoencheva; Arjun Sethi; Marco Catani; Mick Brammer; Declan G M Murphy; Eileen Daly Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2022-07-04 Impact factor: 10.592