Depression and decision making

One of the less well-known symptoms of depression is indecisiveness. People with depression can have problems making decisions because they lack concentration, see things negatively, have less self-confidence and motivation and think things over too much. Researchers from the University of Meunster in Germany studied 85 people, 40 of whom were being treated in hospital for depression. They found that the depressed participants suffered more from 'decisional conflict' (upsetting feelings related to indecisiveness) than those without depression. In the healthy participants decisional conflict was only linked to the complexity of the task whereas in the depressed participants decisional conflict was linked to low self-confidence, lack of concentration and thinking things over too much.

van Randenborgh, Annette, de Jong-Meyer, Renate and Heuffmeier, Joachim - Decision making in depression: differences in decisional conflict between healthy and depressed individuals Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy July-August 2010 17(4), 285-298