Therapy based on positive self-defining memories for older women with depressive disorder and associated ruminations: a pilot study

Depressive disorders hinder the retrieval of positive memories, which is the mechanism strategically used by healthy subjects to cope with negative feelings. An adjustment to this strategy to deal with depression affecting elderly women presenting ruminative responses could be obtained by materialising a number of positive self-defining memories. This innovative cognitive therapeutic method should lead to a decrease in the rumination rate and an improvement in depressive disorders for ageing women. Our study, which included 14 depressed women over the age of 65 who presented with ruminative responses, was divided into two groups according to the severity of their depressive disorder (moderate or severe). Participants collected positive self-defining memories in a notebook over three sessions, which was used independently over the three following weeks. The results show a significant decrease in rumination, regardless of the disorder severity. A significant improvement in the depressive disorder was observed in the elderly women with moderate depressive disorder but stagnated after the support phase. These data highlight the interest of this therapeutic method for the treatment of patients suffering from moderate depression, while further studies will be required to adjust it for severely affected patients.