Interaction between fascia in the shoulder area and depression

Two new studies with a total of 149 test subjects suggest that there are interactions between depressive disorders and the muscular connective tissue, the fasciae, in the neck and shoulder area. A team led by Prof Dr Johannes Michalak, Chair of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy II at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H), has now published this in a scientific article: https: //link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-021-10282-w

"In recent years, there has been an increasing number of scientific findings that prove a close connection between the body and the psyche," says Prof Michalak, categorising the results. The recently published article consisted of two parts: "In the first study, we were interested in whether the properties of the muscular connective tissue of the shoulder-neck area of depressed people differ from those of healthy subjects. Our results show that depressed people have a higher degree of stiffness and less elasticity in the shoulder-neck area than healthy subjects."

Increasing the elasticity of connective tissue through massage

The second study went one step further and investigated whether a short exercise can influence depressive processes at the level of the connective tissue. There were two test groups of depressed patients: The first group was instructed to massage their shoulder/neck area with a foam roller ("fascia roller") for a few minutes using rolling movements to increase the flexibility of the connective tissue. In the second test group under the "placebo condition", the depressed patients only performed up and down movements in the shoulder and neck area without actually massaging the neck area.

During the break between the individual exercises, ten positive terms such as "beautiful", "proud" or "self-confident" and ten negative terms such as "bad", "ugly" or "sluggish" were lectured to both groups from a tape recorder. After the exercises, the patients were asked which terms they remembered. "We used an established scientific test for memory bias, which measures susceptibility to depression," says Prof Michalak, explaining the experimental procedure. The researchers also used a questionnaire to measure mood after the exercise. And it turned out that the mood of the patients in the group with the self-massage was better and they remembered fewer negative words than in the group under the placebo condition.

Prof Michalak: "Our results provide evidence that stiffness and low elasticity of the muscular connective tissue could possibly contribute to the fact that depressed people are less able to detach themselves from their negative state. However, we only investigated the temporary effects of brief self-massage. Whether longer-term treatment of the muscular connective tissue, in combination with other treatment elements, could help depressed people to better overcome their depression needs to be investigated in future research."
 

The study: Michalak, J., Aranmolate, L., Bonn; A., Grandin, K., Schleip, R., Schmiedtke, J., Quassowsky, S., Teismann, T. (in press). Myofascial tissue and depression. Cognitive Therapy & Research. doi: 10.1007/s10608-021-10282-w