Emotions in Motion

Depression is a disabling medical illness characterized by persistent and all-encompassing feelings of sadness, loss of interest, or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities, as well as problems in emotion regulation. Medication, sometimes in combination with verbal psychotherapy or counselling, is the predominant method of treatment for depression. This article argues that body movement, being fundamental to the perception and production of emotion, should also be considered in approaches and methods utilized in the treatment of depression. This chapter introduces motion capture technology as a method for studying dance movement, and provides a short overview of related studies. Recent fi…