Things Do Get Better: Study Reveals Depressed Individuals Look To The Future For Hope

Dealing with the trauma of depression can provide what might seem like a constant and never-ending battle of doom. Statistics show that approximately 14.8 million American adults suffer from a major depressive disorder.

Yet for many, optimistic attitudes are enough to keep them going and on into a bright future with loved ones, support and various treatments.

"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," said psychological scientist and lead study author Michael Busseri of Brock University in Canada. "And this pattern of beliefs appears to be a risk factor for future depression, even over a 10-year period."

For the study, researchers examined data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) survey that was administered to a nationally representative group of middle-aged adults. They accessed two waves of data gathered 10 years apart while analyzing the first wave of information and focusing on individuals who were 45-years-old or younger.

Findings revealed that researchers who conducted clinical interviews to assess the participants' depressive symptoms. Participants were requested to report their life satisfaction levels for the past, present and future based on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the worst and 10 being the best.

Furthermore, findings revealed that at each point and time, participants suffering from depression reported a lower level of life satisfaction compared to those who were not depressed. Yet both depressed and non-depressed individuals.

Though depressed participants reported the same level of life satisfaction for the past and current time zones, they were more likely to stock happiness in the future. Furthermore, researchers noted that people who reported low life satisfaction levels for the past and current lifetimes dealt with a greater risk of depression 10 years later.

"What we don't know yet is whether this improved future life is actually something that depressed individuals feel they will achieve," Busseri concluded. "It's possible, for example, that envisioning a brighter future is a form of wishful thinking - rather than a sign of encouragement and hope."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Clinical Psychological Science.