A review of depression and its treatment from a metacognitive perspective

Depression has continued to be a major and prevalent mental health problem. Though standard interventions for depression are pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, recurring depression still constitutes a major problem. Metacognition studies that have become widespread in clinical psychology recently have focused on recurring depression and depressive rumination. The term “metacognition” that was firstly introduced approximately four decades ago, and related studies created new perspectives in various fields. Metacognition is defined as the awareness of the individual regarding her/his own cognition and provides insight in understanding depression. It emphasizes not only to cognitive content but also cognitive processes of the individual. In this review, how depression is approached in clinical psychology from a metacognitive perspective and how this information is used for treatment were indicated. Furthermore, in a period that new intervention methods for depression are sought, promising aspects of metacognition studies in regard to psychotherapy and psychopathology were also discussed. In this context, in addition to the possibility of metacognitive methods to be used to support the existing therapy models, its potential as a separate therapeutic intervention method was also discussed.