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 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.

• 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.

Bandura’s self-efficacy theory highlights that believing in your ability to impact outcomes reduces vulnerability to depression.

• Stimulating positive emotions
  
  

Visualizing positive future events (even hypothetical ones) can momentarily lift mood.

Mental imagery research found that imagining future positive scenes activated emotional centers in the brain that create real emotional benefits by giving the mind a small “dose” of joy.

• Strengthening resilience

People who think about how they’ll handle future challenges (not just good things) build resilience.

Anticipatory coping, mentally preparing for setbacks, helps people feel less blindsided by difficulties, buffering against worsening depression.

• 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.

Research on possible selves shows that thinking about positive possible futures improves self-concept and can fuel recovery from depression.

• 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.”

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.

Quick wrap-up

• 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.