Increasing help-seeking among people with depression by self-distancing using mental time-travel.

Background: Past research indicates that self-distancing through perspective-taking may increase help-seeking intentions among some people with depression.

Aims: The current pre-registered study tested the effect of self-distancing through mental time-travel on help-seeking attitudes, intentions, outcome expectations, and self-stigma.

Methods: Participants with elevated depressive symptomatology who had not yet sought help for current feelings of depression ( = 859) were randomly assigned to a self-distancing writing task, a self-immersive writing task, or a control condition.

Self-distancing as a path to help-seeking for people with depression.

Objective: Three studies explored whether self-distancing, a method where the self is treated as an other, can impact help-seeking among those with depression. Self-distancing was expected to reduce the negative biases associated with depression by minimizing self-relevance through taking the perspective of an objective other. We hypothesized that when thinking about a past experience of help-seeking, a selfdistancing prompt would cause increased help-seeking intentions and more favorable help-seeking outcome expectations.