Psychologists have explained the effect of depression on the accuracy of judgments

People in a depressed mood assess their own abilities more accurately and cope better with complex analytical tasks, but they understand the emotions and behavior of others less well. This conclusion was reached by scientists from Lingnan University (Hong Kong) in the course of the largest meta-analysis of its kind. This was reported on June 9 in the journal Medical Xpress.

The meta—analysis included psychological and clinical studies published from 1971 to November 2025. Collectively, they cover data from 32,914 participants in three groups - healthy people without depression, those who self-assessed their mood as depressed, and patients with clinically diagnosed depression.

As part of the "green light bulb test," participants thought they were controlling the lamp's lighting by pressing a button, although in reality the light turned on randomly. Healthy subjects tended to overestimate their control—an "optimistic bias." People with a depressed mood, on the contrary, clearly understood that they had no influence.

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In the lie detection task (watching videos looking for deceivers), participants with a depressed mood showed higher analytical accuracy than the control group. However, when assessing other people's emotional states from audio and video recordings, the picture changed: it was here that the accuracy of judgments in people with severe symptoms decreased markedly.

Researchers attribute this to the fact that the optimistic bias performs a protective function for self-esteem, but it weakens with depression. As a result, a person sees himself more accurately and sees difficult situations that require analysis, but he reads social signals worse. Professor Lam urged not to ask depressed people to "think positively," as their assessments of their own situation are often objective. When symptoms increase, he recommended seeking professional help.

Vladimir Skavysh, a pediatric psychiatrist at JSC "Medicine" (Academician Roitberg Clinic), spoke to Izvestia on April 22 about the benefits of physical activity in depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents. According to him, psychotherapy and medications do not always give stable results. Skavysh called the most effective programs combining aerobic exercise, such as running, walking or dancing, with moderate strength exercises. The specialist emphasized that moderate exercise for 8-12 weeks is optimal for symptoms of depression, and milder and more gentle exercises are better suited for anxiety.