The Potential Role of Awe for Depression: Reassembling the Puzzle

Abstract

Recently, interest in the unique pathways linking discrete positive emotions to specific health outcomes has gained increasing attention, but the role of awe is yet to be elucidated. Awe is a complex and transformative emotion that can restructure individuals' mental frames so deeply that it could be considered a therapeutic asset for major mental health major issues, including depression. Despite sparse evidence showing a potential connection between depression and awe, this link has not been combined into a proposal resulting in specific intervention guidelines. The aim of this perspective was three-fold: (i) to provide a new unifying model of awe's functioning—the Matryoshka model; (ii) to show systematic and explicit connections between this emotion and depression; and (iii) to suggest specific guidelines of intervention utilizing the potential therapeutic role of awe for mental health, specifically for depression. This theoretical endeavor in its entirety has been framed within the health domain.

Qualitative analysis of first-person accounts of noetic experiences

“…Participants detailed a variety of ways in which they experience these themes in their lives. Generally, participants ascribed significant meaning and positive benefit from the experiences for themselves and others, confirming greater awareness of the potential benefit of noetic experiences to both mental and physical health as noted in other studies ( Chirico & Gaggioli, 2021 ; Garland & Fredrickson, 2019 ; Mills et al , 2020 ; Sagher, 2018; Seskevich et al , 2004 ; Thomas, 2021 ; Wahbeh, 2021 , pp. 47–49).…”

“…Transformative experiences and transcendent states are of increasing scientific interest ( Kitson et al , 2020 ), notably as part of the recent interest in contemplative practices ( Berkovich-Ohana et al , 2013 ; Josipovic, 2014 ; Nave et al , 2021 ; Vieten et al , 2018 ; Woollacott et al , 2021 ) as well as the therapeutic use of psychedelics ( Barrett & Griffiths, 2018 ; Dakwar et al , 2014 ; Forstmann et al , 2020 ; Reiff et al , 2020 ; Rothberg et al , 2021 ). There is also greater awareness and acceptance of the potential of transformative, transpersonal, and noetic experiences to positively benefit both physical and mental health ( Chirico & Gaggioli, 2021 ; Garland & Fredrickson, 2019 ; Mills et al , 2020 ; Sagher, 2018; Seskevich et al , 2004 ; Thomas, 2021 ; Wahbeh, 2021 , pp. 47–49).…”

Experiencing the impossible and creativity: a targeted literature review

“…Existing work in many of these areas seems promising. For example, some storytellers are studying whether placing children in a magical environment enhances their creativity ( Wyse et al, 2020 ), educational practitioners are examining how superhero play and other magic-related activities promote creativity in the classroom using ( Pollock, 2015 ; Grimmer, 2019 ), magicians are investigating the impact of incorporating magical experiences in everyday life ( Tomatis & Buscema, 2020 ), researchers are exploring how awe-inspiring experiences may help to alleviate depression ( Chirico & Gaggioli, 2021 ), and designers are creating science fiction stories as a way of helping them to predict future trends and needs ( Johnson, 2011 ).…”

Why dispositional awe promotes psychosocial flourishing? An investigation of intrapersonal and interpersonal pathways among Chinese emerging adults

“…Researchers on positive psychology have proposed that awe, as a character strength, can help to bring abundant gratification and authentic and sustainable well-being to individuals (Peterson & Seligman, 2004;Seligman, 2004). An increasing number of evidence suggests that dispositional awe is beneficial to people's positive functioning across the various aspects of life, such as life meaning and purpose, social relationships, physical and mental health, and well-being of others (Chirico & Gaggioli, 2021;Danvers et al, 2016;Piff et al, 2015;Prade & Saroglou, 2016;Stellar et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2018Zhao et al, , 2019. We thus posit that dispositional awe may play a stable protective role in promoting psychosocial flourishing.…”