Mental Elevation
Depressive Realism
Sadder, but wiser.
Grounded in the research on depressive realism
the gist
The theory that mildly depressed people judge reality — especially how much control they actually have — more accurately than non-depressed people, who run on a flattering bias.
the science
From Lauren Alloy and Lyn Abramson's 1979 experiments. People judged how much control they had over an outcome that was actually random. Non-depressed people overestimated their control (the 'illusion of control'); mildly depressed people were closer to the truth — 'sadder but wiser.'