This sudden change in our mental universe, in our way of relating to what surrounds us, is what characterizes depression. Contrary to what we sometimes imagine, depression is not just a state of sadness, but rather a profound alteration in our way of perceiving reality. Why then is the world perceived in an extremely dark way?
In this new season of the collection of original podcasts “Your brain”, Hugo Bottemanne, psychiatrist at Bicêtre hospital in a center specializing in depression and associate researcher in the Moods team at Paris-Saclay University and at the Paris Brain Institute, co-author with Lucie Joly of “Feminine depression – Demystify, understand, heal”, ed. du Rocher, helps us understand this disorder which affects 350 million people.
How does depression alter perceptions and beliefs? What is the origin of these perceptual biases but also of the terrible negative beliefs that characterize depression? How do antidepressant treatments act on these alterations? With this disorder, it is in fact a progressive and profound transformation of the mind that takes place.
Commonly, each individual has a biased perception of the reality around them but with depression, this perception bias is reinforced. At the origin of the negative beliefs that accompany depression, we even observe the disappearance of a cognitive bias, called “positive bias”, usually protective for individuals. To understand this disorder, it is also essential to take an interest in bodily signals: what appears in your thoughts is also a reflection of what is happening at a deeper level in your body. How do anti-depressant treatments work to fight depression and what do psychedelic medicines mean?
A podcast in 6 10-minute episodes, produced by Charlotte Roux, available on November 6, 2024 on franceculture.fr and the Radio France application.
A collection proposed by Camille Renard.
Production : Hugo Bottemann
Realization : Charlotte Roux
Responsible for original podcasts: Camille Renard
Program manager: Elodie Piel
Sound recording: Delphine Baudet
Mixing: Anthony Thomasson, Inès de Bruyn
With the voice of Aleksandra Wlodarczyk
