Depression Fosters a Fragile Negative Outlook, Not Realistic Optimism
A study with 372 adults finds that depressive symptoms are linked to a genuine pessimistic bias about future positive events, rather than a realistic worldview; while individuals with depression can update their beliefs when positive events occur, these optimistic shifts are fragile and often reverse, whereas beliefs about negative events become more entrenched, challenging the idea of depressive realism and suggesting a complex, unstable learning process in depression.
