When someone is depressed, their range of pitch and volume drop, so they tend to speak lower, flatter and softer. Speech also sounds labored, with more pauses, starts and stops. Another key indicator is the tension or relaxation of the vocal cords, which can make speech sound strained or breathy.
Patients with depression are characterized by slow speaking speed, low intonation, weak voice intensity (Kraepelin, 1921), reduced changes in speech features (Cannizzaro et al., 2004), and more pauses (Mundt et al., 2012).
The physical symptoms of depression include: moving or speaking more slowly than usual.
Anyone who speaks can get a psychogenic voice disorder. The psychological effects of trauma can impact the voice. Other mental impairments can cause psychogenic voice disorders. Fear of speaking in front of a large group of people may make a person temporarily lose their voice.
A monotonous voice is produced by schizophrenic patients whose expression of emotion is damped down and by patients with a severe degree of depression.
The journal published a study that showed how speech patterns changed when people are depressed: their speech becomes lower, more monotone, more labored, and has more stops, starts and pauses. And as depression worsens, the individual's speaking becomes more gravelly, hoarse, and less fluent.
Stress and Anxiety
Recent research has shown that under periods of stress, the muscles that control the voice box become tense. Periods of prolonged muscle tension in the voice box can lead to an incoordination of the vocal control system.
When someone is depressed, their range of pitch and volume drop, so they tend to speak lower, flatter and softer. Speech also sounds labored, with more pauses, starts and stops. Another key indicator is the tension or relaxation of the vocal cords, which can make speech sound strained or breathy.
Stress causes muscles in the body to tighten, which can include those in the chest, throat, neck, jaw, vocal folds (chords), etc., which can affect our vocal quality and performance. An active stress response can cause immediate changes in the voice due to the many changes the stress response brings about.
In both studies, researchers found that more severely depressed patients tended to speak slower, take a longer time to complete the same number of words, and display longer pauses between words and sentences.
People who talk frequently about themselves may be more prone to emotional distress and depression, rather than being narcissistic, scientists say. Research at other institutions has suggested that I-talk, though not an indicator of narcissism, may be a marker for depression.
feel overwhelmed — unable to concentrate or make decisions. be moody — feeling low or depression; feeling burnt out; emotional outbursts of uncontrollable anger, fear, helplessness or crying.
If you have been experiencing some of the following signs and symptoms, most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks, you may be suffering from depression: Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood. Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism. Feelings of irritability, frustration, or restlessness.
There are no physical tests for depression, but a GP may examine you and carry out some urine or blood tests to rule out other conditions that have similar symptoms, such as an underactive thyroid.
Studies have shown that even moderate emotional problems can limit a singer's range and flexibility, and that more serious psychological issues can actually cause vocal pathologies like nodules and polyps to arise.
Reasons people may speak in a quiet voice. A quiet voice may have a physical explanation. Many soft-spoken people will also tell you the issue is tied into feelings of shyness, poor self-confidence, and other psychological factors. A mix of the two is also common.
The types of delusions and hallucinations are often related to your depressed feelings. For example, some people may hear voices criticizing them, or telling them that they don't deserve to live. The person may develop false beliefs about their body, such as believing that they have cancer.
Usage: Tone of voice reflects psychological arousal, emotion, and mood. It may also carry social information, as in a sarcastic, superior, or submissive manner of speaking.
When talking, stressed individuals exhibit behaviors such as voicing irregularities, discontinuties in frequency contours, irregular vocal fold vibration, and even vocal tremor.
If you are hoarse, your voice will sound breathy, raspy, or strained, or will be softer in volume or lower in pitch.
When you speak and hear your own voice inside your head, your head bones and tissues tend to enhance the lower-frequency vibrations. This means that your voice usually sounds fuller and deeper to you than it really is.
People with depression have reported excessively watery eyes as well as dry eye syndrome and the pain that goes along with it. Depression often worsens these eye symptoms, because patients are much less motivated to use therapies and treatments to combat the issues.
Depression causes the hippocampus to raise its cortisol levels, impeding the development of neurons in your brain. The shrinkage of brain circuits is closely connected to the reduction of the affected part's function. While other cerebral areas shrink due to high levels of cortisol, the amygdala enlarges.