1.4 - Psychopathology (set C - Depression) Flashcards
Give the three types of characteristics of depression?
- behavioural
- emotional
- cognitive
Outline the behavioural characteristics of depression?
- manifests as a reduction in energy levels, individuals become lethargic, withdrawn and can struggle getting out of bed - can experiences opposite and be unable to relax
- aggression or self harm
- distraction to sleeping and eating
Outline the how depression impacts sleeping and eating - reference what characteristic this is?
- Behavioural characteristic
- Suffers may experiences insomnia or hypersonmnia
- appetitive may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss
Outline the how depression can lead to aggression or self - reference what characteristic this is?
- behavioural characteristic
- may expirence increases in aggression
- Can cause impulsive decision making, aggressive and erratic behaviour
- Self-harm (such as cutting) or suicide attempts
Outline the emotional characteristics of depression?
- Lowered mood - may feel very sad and worthless
- Anger- can experience frustration which may be directed at others or self
- Lowered self-esteem - start hating yourself more
Outline why suffers of depression experience lowered mood what characteristic is this, what are the features?
- emotional characteristic
- individuals will often feel very sad - lowered mood
- Often their are feelings of emptiness or worthlessness and dejection
Outline why suffers of depression experience anger what characteristic is this, what are the features?
- emotional characteristic
- can experience anger which can be extreme and be directed at others or self
Outline the cognitive characteristics of depression?
- poor concentration - unable to stick to a task - lack the decision making ability
- dwelling on the negative - ignore positives
absolute thinking - black and white thinking
Outline why suffers of depression experience poor concentration what characteristic is this, what are the features?
- cognitive characteristic
- suffers may be unable to stick to a task - lack the decision making ability
- Reductions in concentration and decision making are likely to interfere with work
What is depression?
Mental disorder where an individual feels sad and lacks interest in their usual activities - may experiences irrational negative thoughts, raised or lowered activity levels and difficulty concentrating and sleeping
What was becks cognitive theory for the explanation of depression?
Suggests its an individual’s cognitions (the way we think) that make some people more vulnerable to depression than others
- focused on negative schema acquired during childhood
- developed model called negative triad
what did Beck suggest about negative schema and how they can lead to depression?
Depressed people acquired negative schema during childhood - giving them tendency to adopt negative view of world
- negative schema activated when encountering new situation which resembles original situation where schema was learnt
What did beck say negative schemes lead to - give an example of what this is?
Systematic cognitive biases in thinking
Eg - individuals over-generalise, drawing a sweeping conclusion regarding self-worth on the basis of one small piece of negative feedback
Outline becks negative triad?
Negative schemas and cognitive biases maintains negative triad (pessimistic and irrational view of the self, the world and the future)
Outline and provide an example for the three components of becks negative triad?
- The self - ‘I am just plan undesirable, i am unattractive’
- The world - ‘I can’t understand why people don’t like me’
- The future - ‘I am always going to be on my own’
Explain what beck proposed regarding faulty information processing?
- suggested people who are depressed pay selective attention to their environment
- attend to the negative aspects of the world
- ‘black and white thinking’ and blowing small issues out of proportion
Outline the three types of negative thinking, explain their features?
- negative views about the world, future and self
- cognitive distortions, not objective truths
- cognitive treatments work by challenging these thoughts,expectations and beliefs