I don't know about you, but when I think about color, I think happy. Can you imagine walking in to a garden and not being able to perceive the different color flowers, trees, and bugs? The beauty of the garden is just gone.
When we were looking at the picture of Snow White and the seven dwarves, I came to realize something. Even when a simple picture like that doesn't have color, it still loses everything. It's almost like it's meaningless. This is when I began to wonder if color blindness caused depression. Think about this: Depression is often referred to as "feeling blue", and those who suffer from it are sometimes told to "lighten up". I could be sounding a little negative, but it just makes sense to me. It's almost like those cold, rainy days in school where everyone is in a bad mood. When you look out the window, all you perceive is a dreary day, and all of your negative thoughts come pouring in.
So, I searched the web and read some very interesting articles. I found that, in a way, depression is what leads to color blindness. (the opposite of what I thought) Many studies show that depressed people have reduced sensitivity to contrast, and therefore that they may perceive the world differently from others. Contrast gain is the process by which cells in the retina adapt to variance in the light intensity of a visual scene so that the amount of information extracted from it can be maximized. Neuropsychiatrist Ludger Tebartz van Elst found a significant difference in the contrast gain-related activity between depressed patients and controls. The participants diagnosed with depression displayed a marked reduction in contrast gain when compared with the controls. In conclusion, depressed people may indeed experience the world as being less colorful.
This is so interesting and now that I think about it, it makes so much sense! When I read this I also thought about those Claritin commercials where the person has a bad cold and sees everything as dull and blurry, and then they take the medicine and they start to see everything as a bright and colorful and also happy. This is so cool how color can really affect one's mood.
ReplyDeleteAlexa,
ReplyDeleteYou are so smart to have even made that connection. I would have thought that because they never were able to perceive color, they wouldn't realize what they were missing. It is really odd that when depressed, people lose their to see colors and stuff.
It is interesting that color and mood are connected, and I like how you talked about rainy days. Perhaps people are angry and upset because it isn't colorful, of the rainy days become less colorful because we are angry.
Our bodies are so cool. They can do the craziest things, it's amazing.
Alexa!You are completely right! i totally agree with you. If, for example, i walk into a dark room, it automatically gives me this gloomy and depressed feeling. However,w hen i walk into a bright room, i get this cheery feeling of happiness. I think the same can be said about our other senses as well; bad smells can trigger bad memories and good smells can trigger good ones. Whenever i walk into my hairdressing salon, everything is always so bright because of all the lights and there are so many mirrors and a nice little water fountain is in the middle of the waiting room. That is why i always get so relaxed and happy upon entering the building. My Orthodontist, however, has a really dark waiting room with odd furniture and it just gives me this gloomy feeling whenever i enter it. In addition, the weird stuff he puts in my mouth to check my teeth is not only annoying but also reminds me of the smell of fish- like the fish i ate and then threw up two years ago. I, therefore, completely agree with you that our senses affect our mood.
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