This negative view does not stop at themselves. They see themselves as not good enough and as being flawed, and thus underestimate themselves. So, they are much too self-critical, sometimes even extremely self-critical.

Thus, these people do not see problems that arise, for example, on a certain path, as challenges, but often as insurmountable obstacles. Consequently, they also look pessimistically into the future. They assume that the current problems and difficulties will last forever and that there is no hope for a positive change.

Beck assumes that these thought patterns are basically thought mistakes of the people concerned, which are further strengthened due to the ever negative thought patterns. The thoughts and the evaluations of situations and conditions associated with them, therefore, become ever more pessimistic and negative; they are simply too one-sided, too negative.

It is precisely this characteristic of depression that must always be kept in mind. For outsiders, it is sometimes not understandable why people are depressed, why they can’t find a way out. Yet, this way out is not obvious to them. For them, there is no solution and, therefore, they act as they do. If relatives of affected people understand this, the first step has already been taken to help depressed people. You will also find suggestions on how people can be helped on this website: