Doing ‘me, me, me’ all the time sign of depression, reveals study

People who can’t stop talking about themselves may not indicate narcissism

A new research has revealed that people who put themselves first before everyone else and use ‘I’ a lot are at risk of psychological problems such as depression and anxiety.

People who can’t stop talking about themselves and doing ‘me, me, me’ all the time may not indicate narcissism, according to the study conducted at the University of Arizona.

It says that such approach could actually indicate emotional distress, The Independent reported.

Researchers say that an average person uses 16,000 words on a daily basis with approximately 1,400 of these being ‘I’ or ‘me’. However, the intemperate I-talker will use ‘I’ or ‘me’ up to 2,000 times a day.

The study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology illustrates strong links between I-talk and people who are easily upset and might experience tension, anger, depression or anxiety.

4,700 residents in Germany and the US were analysed by researchers to gather the results.

Lead author Allison Tackman made it clear that I-talk alone must not be considered as an indicator for depression.



"It may be better at assessing proneness not just to depression but to negative emotionality more broadly," she said.

She also added: "If you are speaking in a personal context - so you're speaking about something that's of relevance to you, like a recent breakup then we see the relationship between I-talk and negative emotionality emerge."

Tackman explains that negative life experiences and how the people have been affected by them has a role in I-talk.

"But if you're communicating in a context that's more impersonal, such as describing a picture, we did not see the relationship emerge.

"When you think back to being in those places, when you're just so focused on yourself, you may say things like 'Why can't I get better?'

"You're so focused on yourself that not only in your head are you using these first-person singular pronouns but when you're talking to other people or writing, it spills into your language, the self-focus that negative affectivity brings about."

Interestingly use of just ‘I’ was linked to negative emotionality and ‘my’ was not.

This article originally appeared on The Independent.