Isn't it obvious I'm not concentrating even though my sorry arse is here in the uni library on a public holiday? I swear, if I have to read any more on depression, I'll turn depressed myself. :P Who the hell doesn't know that women are more prone to suffer from major depressive episodes than men? Hello? This essay is pointless, pointless. I should've decided on the other one: would you prefer your romantic partner to have positive illusions about you or see you as you see yourself?

Now that would be interesting, wouldn't it? Okay, example: a man and woman (romantic partners) are off to a party. Man tells woman she looks so beautiful, she'll be the belle of the ball (I know, who the fuck says such things, but just take it). Well, she isn't that beautiful, and the 'ball' is gonna be full of supermodels. But what enfolds...

1) The woman is happy. Oh, they've happily forgotten about the party.

 OR

2) The woman screeches, "OMFG, what is wrong with you?! Can't you see this bloody humongous zit on my face? I swear, that woman at (insert expensive beauty products brand name here) told me it'd disappear once I buy this gazillion dollar product and apply it overnight. What complete BS! And I've put on so much weight from last week's binge drinking that I went up one dress size! You bloody didn't notice it! And we're gonna be meeting the new Heidi Klums and Kate Moss tonight, what the hell makes you think I'd be the most gorgeous woman there?!" She continues bitching and bitching, the man ends up apologising over.. nothing, really. He really does think she is the most beautiful creature alive, but that doesn't sit too well with her.

And if the man didn't have romantic illusions about her, he wouldn't have told her any of that. All he would have said to her would've been along the lines of 'You look fine.  We're late. Come on, let's go.'

What do you think?

Next example: woman loses her job. Man tells woman it's the company's loss because she's so bloody brilliant, they're gonna be begging for her to come back once she hits it big (in actual fact, she's far from brilliant). And the next thing that happens:

1) 'Aw, thanks, darling.' Lots of TLC. Wow, the bedroom's suddenly too far away.

 OR

2) 'No, it's not their loss. I was horrid at my job. I never finished any of the company's assignments, I was late thrice last week and twice the week before. I think that I do have no future in this field. Don't see how I ever thought I'd be good at this." cries over her loss. Man is confused, and tries to tell her that they're wrong, but obviously, he's too blinded to see that she's actually right.

The man with no positive illusions: You can get a new job somewhere else. I saw a vacancy at blah-blah (not necessarily even a teensy bit glamorous). Resume, chop chop.

Interesting topic, isn't it?