--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you are depressed, you may have a…" description: "\"“When you are depressed, you may have a tendency to confuse feeling with facts. Your feelings of hopelessness and total despair are just symptoms of de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa5/david-d-burns-4607_depression_when-you-are-depressed-you-may-have-a-te_2888856.jpg" --- # When you are depressed, you may have a tendency to confuse… ![“When you are depressed, you may have a tendency to confuse feeling with facts. Your feelings of hopelessness and total despair are just symptoms of depressive illness, not facts. If you think you are hopeless, you will naturally feel this way. Your feelings only trace the illogical pattern of your…” quote by David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa5/david-d-burns-4607_depression_when-you-are-depressed-you-may-have-a-te_2888856.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa5/david-d-burns-4607_depression_when-you-are-depressed-you-may-have-a-te_2888856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa5/david-d-burns-4607_depression_when-you-are-depressed-you-may-have-a-te_2888856.jpg) > ““When you are depressed, you may have a tendency to confuse feeling with facts. Your feelings of hopelessness and total despair are just symptoms of depressive illness, not facts. If you think you are hopeless, you will naturally feel this way. Your feelings only trace the illogical pattern of your thinking. Only an expert, who has treated hundreds of depressed individuals, would be in a position to give a meaningful prognosis for recovery. Your suicidal urge merely indicates the need for treatment. Thus, your conviction that you are "hopeless" nearly always proves you are not. Therapy, not suicide, is indicated. Although generalizations can be misleading, I let the following rule of thumb guide me: Patients who feel hopeless never actually are hopeless. The conviction of hopelessness is one of the most curious aspects of depressive illness. In fact, the degree of hopelessness experienced by seriously depressed patients who have an excellent prognosis is usually greater than in terminal malignancy patients with a poor prognosis. It is of great importance to expose the illogic that lurks behind your hopelessness as soon as possible in order to prevent an actual suicide attempt. You may feel convinced that you have an insoluble problem in your life. You may feel that you are caught in a trap from which there is no exit. This may lead to extreme frustration and even to the urge to kill yourself as the only escape.”” [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Depression distorts perception, turning subjective feelings into perceived facts, especially hopelessness, which is a symptom, not reality, and can be corrected through therapy. **In simple terms:** Depression makes you think feelings are facts, especially hopelessness. Key Takeaway Seek professional help to challenge hopeless thoughts. Themes mental health perception hopelessness therapy cognitive distortion Mood anxious hopeful reflective Type advice clinical motivational When to use this quote - clinical counseling - support groups - emergency hotlines - self‑monitoring - psychiatric evaluation Key Concepts Cognitive behavioral therapy negative bias symptom vs fact Questions to Reflect On - How can you differentiate feeling from fact? - What steps can you take when hopelessness feels overwhelming? A Different Perspective Hopelessness may be severe even when prognosis is good, so it isn’t reliable evidence of outcome. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Hopelessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopelessness/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) ## Related quotes > [There are many people that can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. They have feelings of hopelessness and feel like they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-peter/there-are-many-people-that-can-t-see-the-light-at-the-end-of-the/) [Jason Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-peter/) > [Being embodied as such is no insurance against feelings of hopelessness or meaningslessness. Beyond his body, he still has to know who he is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/being-embodied-as-such-is-no-insurance-against-feelings-of/) [R. D. 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Later that night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/there-are-times-when-you-don-t-belong-and-you-think-you-re-going-to/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And most important, nobody could love or relate to you. It would be impossible to feel any love for someone who was flawless and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/and-most-important-nobody-could-love-or-relate-to-you-it-would-be/) [David D. 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All of a sudden this overwhelming sadness rushes over me. And I get discouraged and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-sometimes-it-hits-me-out-of-nowhere-all-of-a-sudden-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sometimes I actually hope that he did once feel empty and hopeless and helpless enough to slash his wrists to the bone, because if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/sometimes-i-actually-hope-that-he-did-once-feel-empty-and-hopeless/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) > [“Whenever you feel hopeless, all you need to do is go outside and realize that you have been molded into human form for some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-wiest/whenever-you-feel-hopeless-all-you-need-to-do-is-go-outside-and/) [Brianna Wiest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-wiest/) > [When you feel like you're isolated and you're on your own, you feel hopeless and who knows what those hopeless thoughts can turn into.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmie-allen/when-you-feel-like-you-re-isolated-and-you-re-on-your-own-you-feel/) [Jimmie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmie-allen/) > [Sometimes it's not the optimist you need, but another pessimist to walk beside you and know, absolutely know, that the sound in the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/sometimes-it-s-not-the-optimist-you-need-but-another-pessimist-to/) [Laurell K. 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