Science of Brooding

Some Russian insights that will help us not be limited by the bleak
outcome of the final act.


Researchers found that the saddest literature was usually written by
Russian authors, so they decided to do a series of tests with subjects in
Moscow and in Michigan.

" . . . According to Grossman and Kross, however, not all brooders and
ruminators are created equal. While American brooders showed extremely
high levels of depressive symptomatology, Russian brooders were actually
less likely to be depressed than non-brooders. This suggests that
brooding, or ruminative self-reflection, has extremely different
psychiatric outcomes depending on the culture. While rumination makes
Americans depressed, it actually seems to provide an emotional buffer for
Russians . . . When Russians engaged in brooding self-analysis, they were
much more likely to engage in self-distancing, or looking at the past
experience from the detached perspective of someone else. Instead of
reliving their confused and visceral feelings, they reinterpreted the
negative memory , which helped them make sense of it. According to the
researchers, this led to significantly less “emotional distress” among the
Russian subjects. (It also made them less likely to blame another person
for the event.)"
So, Russians are able to look at a bad situation and see it objectively.
Maybe that is why Chekhov thought all his plays were comedies...


love and brooding,
Lucia

Read More
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/08/why-russians-dont-get-depressed/#ixzz13UY3erPH

- Lucia