Psychology2026-04-25
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Depressive Realism vs. Defensive Suppression: Accuracy and Psychological Health

- Depressive realism theory (depressed people perceive reality more accurately) vs. Defensive Suppression (suppressing accurate perceptions of threat/inadequacy)

SourcesDepressive realism theory (depressed people perceive reality more accurately) vs. Defensive Suppression (suppressing accurate perceptions of threat/inadequacy)
TensionDepressive realism suggests that depressed people have more accurate perceptions of threat, failure, and lack of control than non-depressed people. Non-depressed people use positive illusions and defensive suppression to maintain unrealistic optimism. But if people are suppressing accurate threat perception through positive illusions, and this suppression requires monitoring that maintains the suppressed content, th…
CandidateDepressive realism may not be realism at all, but rather suppression failure. The person is not perceiving reality more accurately; they are perceiving reality through the lens of failed suppression—all the threat and inadequacy that was being suppressed is now unfiltered. True accuracy might be the middle ground: acknowledging real threats without catastrophizing them, acknowledging real limitations without global inadequacy. Both suppression-based optimism and suppression-failure-based pessim…
pressure 14speculative
What Would Need to Be True
Distinguishing depressed people with active suppression failure from depressed people with accurate threat perception Evidence that depressive symptoms improve more through suppression-cessation (acceptance) than through suppression-enhancement (trying to restore positive illusions) Longitudinal data showing whether "accurate" depressive perception reflects genuine realism or reflects oscillation between suppression and rebound
Connected
conceptRebound Effects: The Thought That Returns With ForceconceptThe Paradox of Mental Control: Why Effort Makes the Problem Worse
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