Canadian researchers found that middle-aged adults with a history of depression typically evaluated their past and current lives in more negative terms than did adults without depression. Yet, the negativity didn’t extend to their beliefs about the future.
It turns out that even clinically depressed individuals are also characterized by the belief that one’s life in the future will be more satisfying than one’s past and current life.
Adults typically believe that life gets better — today is better than yesterday was and tomorrow will be even better than today. However, for depressive individuals, this pattern of beliefs appears to be a risk factor for future depression, even over a 10-year period. The discrepancy between optimistic beliefs about the future and a more sober reality might contribute to sub-optimal outcomes for them. It’s possible, for example, that envisioning a brighter future is a form of wishful thinking — rather than a sign of encouragement and hope.
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Source material from Psych Central