Introduction
psychomotor disturbances, OGM, non-dysphoric, pain, mindfulness-based stress reduction, dysphoric, depression, Depression
EVENT
Depression is characterised by somatic symptoms such as poor sleep, low energy, and psychomotor disturbances [A key mechanism that is linked to OGM is rumination [Remoteness of memories (the age of the memory’s event) has been suggested to influence several characteristics of AM and therefore an important question is whether remoteness would impact AM retrieval in remitted depression following a self-discrepancy induction. Falco et al. (2015) required dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals to complete a variant of the AMT and date the memory after retrieval [Memory valence has been found to be associated with remoteness of specific memories [Remote memories are also associated with memories being recalled from an observer perspective (third-person perspective), in comparison to a field perspective (first-person perspective). Field memories often contain the emotions the individual experienced during the original event [Moreover, emotional valence of the memory has been found to be associated with vantage perspective. While healthy controls tend to use a field perspective for the recall of positive AM [Given activated self-discrepancies might affect features of AM retrieval, such as specificity, remoteness, valence, and vantage perspective, it is prudent to examine methods to reduce self-discrepant thinking. For instance, loving-kindness meditation (LKM) might reduce self-discrepant thinking by augmenting self-compassion. Three main attributes of self-compassion have been identified: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, an awareness of present moment suffering without the use of avoidance [A further focus of LKM is on extending compassion towards others. This aspect of the meditation might improve a sense of common humanity which might help one to feel less alone in their pain and shift their focus away from self-discrepant thinking that focuses solely on the self. For example, one study compared the effects of a compassion training programme (Compassion Cultivation Training) with mindfulness-based stress reduction where participants engaged in 2.5-hours of face-to-face sessions per week and 30–45 minutes of daily practices [