By Terrie Johnson | UAB Community Health & Human Services Student

For an individual to remain focused, they must be in an enabling mental space. Individuals who suffer from depression struggle to concentrate on critical matters due to several factors. According to Villalobos et al. (2021), mood disorders interfere with normal functioning. As such, individuals feel demotivated and do not attempt to complete daily tasks. Depression makes people unwilling to engage in any activity. For instance, a person may find it hard to clean their space or take a shower. Also, it impairs mental processing speed, thus minimizing the ability to absorb information. Subsequently, one forgets important details and appears less concerned. While this could be alarming to some people, others do not understand that one requires medical attention and remain aloof.

Depression is one of the issues that affect performance in school and workplaces. Individuals cannot focus because of mood instabilities (Villalobos et al., 2021). For instance, an individual could be in class but fails to concentrate. This aspect is known as presenteeism and presents through loss of productivity despite being physically available. In the long run, it results in stress and burnout, which worsen depression. Also, people may fail to focus due to overthinking. Depressed patients tend to focus on the underlying issue, which takes away from present happenings. Anxiety resulting from depression makes one uncertain about the future. Consequently, this affects an individual’s thoughts and leads to a loss of concentration regarding current events. While one may ignore the issues as an escape, it does not offer a lasting solution.

A patient-centered approach is critical in treating depression. As healthcare professionals work to restore an individual’s well-being, the latter should participate in several ways. For instance, one can attend therapy sessions where a mental health practitioner helps them to deal with underlying issues that lead to depression. Also, a patient can choose to live a day at a time. This move allows one to forget their problems and concentrate on critical matters. Nevertheless, patients must seek long-term solutions to heal fully and remain focused.

References

Villalobos, D., Pacios, J., & Vázquez, C. (2021). Cognitive control, cognitive biases and emotion regulation in depression: A new proposal for an integrative Interplay Model. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628416