Investigation of theory of mind skills of depression patients in remission with single attack and multiple attacks

Major depressive disorder, one of the most common mental disorders, has a course. One of the important clinical features of major depressive disorder is impairment in social and interpersonal functions. Theory of mind is the capacity to understand that one's own and others have separate minds, to perceive or infer the feelings, thoughts, intentions, wishes and beliefs of one's own or others. Theory of mind is considered an integral part of social functioning and the maintenance of interpersonal relationships. The number of studies examining the theory of mind skills of patients with depression in remission from both social cognitive and social perceptual aspects is quite limited. This study aimed to investigate whether single-episode remission patients and depressive patients in remission having more than one episode differed from the control group in terms of theory of mind skills of depressive patients in remission and whether possible differences were effective on the chronicity of the disease. Our study was conducted with the consent of 50 patients aged between 18-60 years, having major depressive disorder, being in remission having a single episode, 50 patients; with people having multiple episodes, and 50 healthy participants, who were selected from among the patients applying to the Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Faculty of Medicine Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic. In the study, sociodemographic data form, Hamilton Depression Scale, Mind Reading from Eyes Test, Comprehension Test, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale were performed to all participants. In our study, a significant decrease was found in the social-perceptual and social-cognitive theory of mind skills and cognitive functionality in the group in remission with multiple attacks compared to the group that had a single attack and the control group. This confirms our hypothesis that recurrent depression limits interpersonal social interactions during remission, leads to social isolation, and may increase the likelihood of relapse. No significant difference was found between the group that had a single attack and the control group in terms of both theory of mind skills and cognitive functionality. This gives the green light to the idea that individuals in remission with a single attack may have higher awareness, self-efficacy and motivation for full recovery compared to individuals with multiple attacks. It is recommended that this idea should be elaborated and illuminated from different scales and perspectives in future studies. Key words: Major Depressive Disorder, Theory Of Mind, Relapse, Residual Symptoms