I agree, it’s definitely hopelessness for me. But the point he is making is the only really useful thing I took away from their book. They wrote that people are vulnerable to recurrent depression because, when we feel whatever we felt during an episode, we don’t consider that it could just be a passing mood. Instead of recognizing this possibility, we think, oh no! It’s coming back! It really blew the top of my head off to realize how right they were. I used to feel a wave of hopelessness and start to panic, because I was sure I knew the horror was about to take me over. But now I think, a part of me feels hopeless, and I put my hand on my heart and say, I’m so sorry you’re feeling this, can you tell me what set you off? It doesn’t mean I don’t “get depressed,” but I now assume that, if I don’t catastrophize, and I’m kind to myself, it won’t last very long.