Future thinking (basically, imagining or planning for what’s ahead) can be both helpful and unhelpful when you’re dealing with depression, depending on how it’s done.
When I was feeling a bit better, setting goals aided me by giving me a reason to live and something to chase.
When future thinking is helpful in depression
- Hope building
Healthy future thinking can spark hope.
Even small goals (“Maybe I’ll feel a little better next week” or “I’ll try a new hobby this summer”) can give you a reason to keep going.
Research shows that hope is strongly linked to lower symptoms of depression.
- Setting goals
Imagining achievable goals and steps to get there helps break the cycle of helplessness that depression creates.
Behavioral activation therapy uses this by helping patients plan rewarding activities.
- Creating meaning
Thinking about future values or personal growth can build a stronger sense of purpose.
Viktor Frankl’s famous work (Man’s Search for Meaning) supports this idea: future-oriented meaning-making can be protective even in extreme psychological suffering.
I started the dream of creating and growing this blog, together with exercising once more, giving me something to aim for.
- Problem-solving
Thinking ahead can prepare people to cope better with challenges when it’s focused on solutions instead of rumination.
- Enhancing self-efficacy
When people imagine themselves succeeding at something in the future, even small wins, it strengthens their belief that they can influence their lives.
- Stimulating positive emotions
Visualizing positive future events (even hypothetical ones) can momentarily lift mood.
- Strengthening resilience
People who think about how they’ll handle future challenges (not just good things) build resilience.
- Advancing identity growth
Imagining different future versions of yourself (“future selves”) can motivate change and build a stronger sense of who you want to become.
- Increasing control
Life often feels out of your hands when depressed.
Future planning (even small-scale) restores a feeling of agency: “I can make choices that shape my future.”
The harder I worked and applied myself, the more I felt in control of my future and emotions.
Having perceived control has been consistently linked to better mental health outcomes.
- Facilitating social connection
Looking forward to future events (birthdays, reunions, projects) can create emotional bonds with others, and social support is critical for managing depression.
Anticipated social events boost positive affect and protect against loneliness in studies.
Final note
- Healthy future thinking = hope, agency, small goals, flexible identity.
- Unhealthy future thinking = hopelessness, avoidance, fatalism, overwhelm.
It’s not future thinking itself that’s good or bad; it’s the quality and focus of it.
Helpful future thinking is realistic, hopeful, goal-oriented, and flexible. Unhelpful future thinking is catastrophic, rigid, hopeless, and overwhelming.
In therapy (like cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy), a lot of work revolves around reframing future thoughts, building hope without falling into unrealistic expectations.
Join our forum and Facebook
Please consider joining our forum and Facebook if you enjoyed reading this and would like to chat with like-minded peers about anything depression related.
It would certainly go a long way toward making my dream of creating a thriving, supportive community a reality!
