Smell the proverbial roses and enjoy life, right? A new study1 shows scents actually offer a subtle, simple mood hack, especially for those who are depressed.

Kymberly Young, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh (and colleagues) study autobiographical memories—what we remember about our own histories. She knew people suffering depression wash out memories, making them general and vague, and not in a good way. Depressed patients complain of being mired in murky “brain fog,” tending to focus on negative, gray memories, even if these memories are inaccurate2 as well as overgeneralized.3

What this means in real time is that people who are depressed tend to remember more abstractly, as well as negatively. Thoughts tend toward garbage pail generalizations like, “I’m not going anywhere in life”; “I’m a bad partner”; “My friends never reach out to me”; or “Just another failure—that’s all I do.” This negative self-talk promotes a vicious cycle: The more we tell ourselves bad things, the more we believe them and the worse we feel. Then we generate more negative thoughts and self-talk that further “prove” our negative cognitions are true. But that’s all wrong!

How can smelling the roses help? Well, to recap, overgeneral, vague memories are........

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