Literature Review: Methods in Investigating the Role of Mental Illness in Cognition

Abstract

More than 17 million people nationwide and 121 million people across the world suffer from depression (Depression Facts; WHO). 58.5 million people suffer from mental illness nationwide and roughly 450 million people across the world suffer from some form of mental illness (CDC; BBC). It seems as if there is little in the way of allowing us insight into the inner workings of the mind of those living with a mental illness. Even though we have covered substantial ground in treating some of these illnesses we still have much to learn. Some of these areas of research that are looking into the far reaches of mental illness are that of cognitive science and linguistics. Hoping to bridge the divide between thought and reality, form and function, research has shown us just how revealing what we talk about and how we talk about it can be towards or inner cognitive processes. This paper aims to further bridge that divide through a small literature review on possible methods to investigate the role of mental illness in cognition.