Introverts experience greater mood elevations from antidepressant placebos than extraverts

Introverts experience greater mood elevations from antidepressant placebos than extraverts

A recent study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology indicates that people with natural tendencies toward lower positive moods tend to experience greater mood boosts from both antidepressant placebos and a dopamine-altering drug. The research suggests that an individual’s baseline personality traits, such as introversion and their natural ability to experience pleasure, play a major role in how they respond to treatme…

Introversion is not shyness or dislike of people: brief experiments find introverts can enjoy acting outgoing, while a week-long trial found the most introverted participants reported more tiredness and less authenticity

“Introvert” is one of those words that seems to explain everything at once. It gets used for the person who leaves a party early, the colleague who thinks before speaking, the friend who prefers dinner with two people to drinks with twenty, and sometimes anyone who feels awkward in a crowd. Science is less tidy. Introversion is not a diagnosis, a dislike of people, or a promise that someone will behave quietly in every situation. It is one end o…