Cognitive Approach And Treatment Of Depression

Question 1

What is depression

Answer 1

A mood disorder that affects the emotional state of a person suffering from it

Question 2

Cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 2

-poor concentration
-attention to the negative
-absolutist thinking

Question 3

What is the cause of depression according to cognitive explanations

Answer 3

• faulty /irrational thinking

Question 4

Examples of faulty thinking

Answer 4

-Misinterpretation of events, cognitive distortions, irrational beliefs

These cause depression

Question 5

What model does the cognitive approach use to explain faulty thinking

Answer 5

The computer model- faulty information processing

Question 6

What are the two main explanations of depression

Answer 6

-Ellis’ ABC model (1962)
-Beck’s negative triad (1967)

Question 7

What is Ellis’ ABC model

Answer 7

-An activating event leads to the development of an irrational belief. The consequence of this irrational belief is the development of depression and unhealthy emotions

Question 8

According to Ellis’ model what is the cause of depression

Answer 8

Irrational beliefs / thinking

Question 9

What is the source of irrational beliefs according to Ellis

Answer 9

Musturbatory thinking

Question 10

What is musturbatory thinking

Answer 10

The belief that you must always succeed in order to achieve perfection. People who hold these belief are more likely to become depressed.

E.G ‘I must do well or I’m worthless’

Question 11

Example of the ABC model

Answer 11

-Activating event- Failing a mock exam

-Irrational belief- ‘I’m going to fail all of my GCSEs’

-Consequence- depression

Or

-Break up with a partner
-Irrational belief that you are ‘unlovable and will always be alone’
-Consequence is depression

Question 12

What is Becks negative triad explanation

Answer 12

-Negative schemas maintain a negative triad of beliefs, concerning the self, the world and the future

-This makes it difficult to see past the negative aspects of life, maintain the depression

Question 13

Example of Beck’s negative triad

Answer 13

-The self- ‘I’m worthless’
-The world- ‘no one likes me’
-The future-‘ I’ll always be a failure’

Question 14

What leads to the development of negative schemas

Answer 14

-Childhood experiences, such as continual parental criticism or rejection by others can leads to negative self schemas developing

-These negative self schemas lead to depression

Question 15

When are negative self schemas activated

Answer 15

-They are activated in similar situations to those present when the schemas were learnt

Question 16

Evaluation of cognitive explanations of depression

Answer 16

-Support for the role of irrational thinking in the development of depression
-Success in its application to therapy (CBT)

-Alternative explanations

Question 17

Describe Hammen and Krantz study and how it supports the role of irrational thinking

Answer 17

-Hammen and Krantz found that depressed participants made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material than non depressed participants

Question 18

Describe Bates study and how it supports the role of irrational thinking

Answer 18

-Bates found that depressed participants who were given negative automatic thought statements became more and more depressed.

Question 19

What is a criticism /counterpoint of the role of irrational thinking

Answer 19

-However, it can also be argued that irrational thinking is a consequence of depression.

Question 20

What evidence supports the cognitive explanations success in its application to therapy

Answer 20

-CBT has consistently been fond to be the most effective and useful treatment for depression, with further research (e.g march et al) finding it to be even more effective when paired with drug treatments.

-This demonstrates that depression can be alleviated by replacing the negative thoughts with more positive ones, suggesting that they had a role in its development in the first place

Question 21

Name an alternative explanation of depression that this approach fails to consider

Answer 21

-The cognitive approach fails to taken into account the biological approach, which explains depression in terms of genetic and neural factors.

Question 22

How does the biological approach explain depression

Answer 22

-In terms of biological and neural factors

-For example, a candidate gene called the SERT gene, which is associated with low levels of serotonin, is ten times more likely to be found in a depressed patient. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter responsible for mood.

-Furthermore, research shows that drug therapies, which aid serotonin levels are successful in treating depression, supported by the fact that cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven more effective when paired with drug therapies.

-this suggests that other factors play a role in casing depression and so a Diathesis stress model could be a better approach to take in explaining depression. Depression may have both a cognitive and biological element

Question 23

What idea is CBT based on

Answer 23

-The idea that what you think and what you do affects how you feel.

Question 24

What is the most common psychological treatment

Answer 24

CBT

Question 25

What is the aim of CBT

Answer 25

-To challenge the cognitive element -irrational beliefs and the behavioural element- how it makes them behave (e.g isolation)

Question 26

What is the Process of CBT

Answer 26

-The patient and therapist work together to identify the patients psychological problems -They then use this information to set goals and plan how the patient will achieve them with the aim of challenging the irrational thoughts that are causing the depression

Question 27

What is Ellis’ rational emotive behavioural therapy

Answer 27

-Ellis extends the ABC model to the ABCDEF model with the main stages: -Disputing- -Effects of disputing -New feeling

Question 28

What happens in the disputing stage of Ellis’ REBT

Answer 28

-The therapist will use different types of disputing to remove the patients irrational thoughts E.G may use logical disputing to question the reality of their belief and empirical disputing to question the evidence that they have of these beliefs

Question 29

What types of disputing are used in REBT

Answer 29

-Logical -Empirical -Pragmatic

Question 30

What is logical disputing

Answer 30

getting the client to think about whether their though patterns 'make sense'.

Question 31

What is empirical disputing

Answer 31

asking the client if there is evidence to support their beliefs

Question 32

What is pragmatic disputing

Answer 32

getting the client to think whether their thought patterns are useful to them or not.

Question 33

What is the effect of the disputing (REBT)

Answer 33

-Negative beliefs are replaced with new more positive beliefs that provoke more positive feelings

Question 34

What is the result of REBT

Answer 34

-No longer feel depressed

Question 35

What are other elements of CBT

Answer 35

-Homework -‘client as scientist’ -Behavioural activation

Question 36

What is the purpose of behavioural activation

Answer 36

-To encourage the patient to engage in activities that boost mood ,such as going for a walk or going out with friends in order to gradually reduce the avoidance behaviour.

Question 37

What is the ‘client as scientist method’

Answer 37

A client may also be set homework to challenge negative thoughts E.G record a time you felt happy. This can be used to challenge beliefs in the future

Question 38

Evaluation of CBT

Answer 38

-Evidence demonstrating its effectiveness -Not suitable for a more diverse range of clients -High relapse rates

Question 39

What evidence can be used to support the effectiveness of CBT (March)

Answer 39

-March compared the effectiveness of CBT with that of antidepressant drugs and both treatments combined with 327 depressed adolescents. After 36 weeks, she found that 81% of the antidepressants group and 81% of the CBT group had significantly improved.

Question 40

Counterpoint of March’s study for supporting effectiveness of CBT

Answer 40

-March’s study also found that the group who were treated with both antidepressants and CBT showed to be even more effective with 86% showing significant improvement after 36 weeks, suggesting that the treatment of depression should consist of a combination of drug treatments and CBT in order to maximise the effectiveness of the treatment. The biological approach should also be considered.

Question 41

Why is CBT not suitable for everyone

Answer 41

-In some severe cases of depression, individuals can lack motivation and so may struggle to engage themselves with the cognitive work of CBT or may even struggle to attend the session and so therefore the treatment will be ineffective.

Question 42

What treatment of depression may be more suitable for the severely depressed

Answer 42

antidepressants may be more effective in treating depression as they do not require as much motivation.

Question 43

Evidence that individuals often relapse in the long term ( after CBT)

Answer 43

-Ali assessed depressed patients for 12 months following a course of CBT and found that 42% relapsed within the first 6 months of ending the treatment and 53% within a year. -This suggests that CBT cannot be relied on as a long term treatment and so alternative treatments should be used instead

Question 44

What did Keller find about recovery rates of drug therapy and CBT

Answer 44

-Keller found that when used alone, 55% of those who were treated with drugs alone and 52% of those treated with CBT alone recovered, however, when used together, 85% of patients recovered. This provides further evidence that CBT and drugs should be used together when treating depression.