This is a problem for people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as well as other disorders like depression. Much of the worry in GAD is based on the fear that things will turn out negatively, making pessimism a core feature of the disorder.
Levels of Pessimism & GAD
Previous research has shown that people with GAD indicate a greater likelihood of negative rather than positive life events.To examine this in more depth, researchers involved in one study assembled a group of college students and gave them GAD and depression assessments. They also determined their predictions of the outcomes of future events.
Results showed that people with GAD were more likely to think that future events would end up being negative, but they had a stable level of expectation for positive future events. Participants with depression also had high levels of negative predictions, but were less likely to think that future events would be positive.
The Bottom Line
This research adds support to the understanding that people with GAD hold negative beliefs about the future, but it also differentiates GAD from depression by showing that people with higher depression scores additionally expect fewer positive outcomes in the future.What This Means to You
This pessimism is a characteristic that is often addressed in cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment. It can be one of the first elements that can be successfully changed with hard work and determination.Source:
Miranda & Mennin (2007). "Depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and certainty in pessimistic predictions about the future." Cognitive Therapy Research, 31, 71-82.
