Depression linked to feeling regret

Do not look back in anger if you want a happy, healthy old age, say scientists who have discovered that the feeling of regret is linked with depression among the elderly.

Young people may be able to get away with regretting things because they can do something about it, but this approach does not work later in life, researchers at the University Medical Centre in Hamburg found.

The study, published in the journal Science, used a psychological test of regret. It found depressed elderly people were more likely than their healthy counterparts to feel regret.