In shaky times, focus on past successes, if overly anxious, depressed

New study suggests focusing on past successes, instead of failures, improves decision making, especially for people with anxiety and depression. (iStockphoto) The more chaotic things get, the harder it is for people with clinical anxiety and/or depression to make sound decisions and to learn from their mistakes. On a positive note, overly anxious and depressed people's judgment can improve if they focus on what they get right, instead of what they get wrong, suggests a new UC Berkeley study. The findings, published today, Dec. 22, in the journal eLife , are particularly salient in the face of a COVID-19 surge that demands tactical and agile thinking to avoid illness and even death. UC Berkeley researchers tested the probabilistic decision-making skills of more than 300 adults, including people with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. In probabilistic decision making, people, often without being aware of it, use the positive or negative results of their previous actions to inform their current decisions.