While it is known that depression makes sufferers see the present and the future as sad, new research has shown it also casts a long shadow over people’s memories of the past.
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Depression:
- Depressed people have a peculiar view of the past.
- Rather than glorifying the ‘good old days’, they project their generally bleak outlook on to past events.
- Depression is not only associated with a negative view of the world, the self and the future.
- But we now know with a negative view of the past.
- The study establishes the first clear link between depression and hindsight bias.
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According to expert:
- Everyone is susceptible to hindsight bias, but it takes on a very specific form in depression.
- While non-depressed people tend to show hindsight bias for positive events.
- But not negative events, people with depression show the reverse pattern.
- The researchers tested over 100 university students, about half of whom suffered from mild to severe depression.
- They were ask to imagine themselves in a variety of everyday scenarios with positive or negative outcomes.
- For each scenario, the researchers then collected measures of hindsight bias.
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Results:
- The results showed that with increasing severity of depression.
- In addition,a specific hindsight bias pattern emerged exaggerated foreseeability and inevitability of negative event outcomes.
- As well as a tendency to misremember initial expectations in line with negative outcomes.
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