Welcome back. It's another episode of the savvy psychologist and I'm your

host Dr. Ellen Hendrickson. Every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

So there are dozens of risk factors for depression, but how and what we think makes up one of the biggest pieces of the pie.

And in our psychological backpack, we all carry around beliefs that shape how we move through our days.

They may be about the world, with positive beliefs like people are generally trustworthy,

or not so positive ones, like life isn't fair. We also carry around beliefs

about the future so again they may be good like things usually work out for me or

not so much like things will never get better.

But besides beliefs about the world and the future, the heaviest weight in our backpack is

beliefs about ourselves. And when it comes to setting the stage for

depression, a 2009 study in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research found there

are two biggies that are particularly devious.

So here are the terrible two, plus how to empty that backpack

and refill it with beliefs that not only are more accurate but fit you and your life a whole lot better.

So depressive belief number one is everyone has to like me.

And there are many variations on the theme of Everyone Has to Like Me.

Call it the 31 flavors of people pleasing.

So perhaps your version is something more along the lines of, worth depends on how others see me or what

other people think about me is really important.

Whatever way we slice it, this belief sets us up for trouble. Why? Well, the trouble with this belief is that it puts

our happiness in the hands of others and we can't control how others react, think, or

whether or not they'll judge us.

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