Cognitive approach + depression Flashcards
behavioural characteristics of depression
-Activity levels reduced energy levels make the sufferer lethargic
-Disruption to sleep/eating behaviours- sufferers may experience changes to how they usually sleep/eat: insomnia or hypersomnia
-Aggression/self-harm- irritability that can become verbal or physically aggressive, can lead to physical aggression towards self e.g. suicide/cutting
cognitive characteristics of depression
-Poor concentration- unable to stick with a task as they usually would/ finding it hard to make usually straightforward decisions
-Attending to/ dwelling on the negative- focusing on the negative aspects of a situation and ignoring the positives. Also have bias to recalling unhappy events rather than the happy ones.
-Absolutist thinking- sufferers tend to think in ‘black + white’ terms ( all good or all bad)
Emotional characteristics of depression
-Lowered mood- a state of extreme sadness w/ feelings of worthlessness or emptiness.
-Anger- can be directed at self or others leading to aggressive behaviour.
-Lowered self esteem- sufferers reported reducing liking of themselves.
Beck’s cognitive theory
Faulty information processing- depressed people attend to the negatives rather than the positives e.g. they focus on the fact they performed poorly on one section of the test + ignore how they did well on another, also tend to catastrophise- small problem becomes a disaster.
Negative self schemas- a self-schema is a package of info we hold about ourselves, ppl with negative self-schemas interpret all the info about themselves in a pessimistic way.
The negative triad: beck
-A person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves bc of 3 types of negative thinking.
-Negative thoughts about the world–>negative views about the future–> negative views about self.
AO3 Beck
P- research support for the idea that depression is associated with faulty information processing, negative self-schemas + triad of negative thoughts
Ev- Grazioli + Terry (2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability + depression before and after birth.
Women judged to have high cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer from post-natal depression.
Ex-Clark + Beck (1999) reviewed research on this topic + concluded there was solid support for these cognitive vulnerability factors.
L-These cognitions can be seen before depression develops, suggesting Beck’s suggestion that cognitions cause depression may be correct to some degree.
Ellis’ ABC model
A- activating event- this situation triggers thoughts regarding the event + self
B- beliefs- the person can develop rational/irrational thoughts about the events
C- consequences- the type of belief can help affect behavioural + emotional state.
AO3 Ellis
P-Ellis’ model only offers a partial explanation of depression.
Ev- There is no doubt that some cases of depression follow activating events. Psychologists even call this reactive depression.
Ex- Reactive depression is seen as different from the kind of depression that arises without an obvious cause.
L- this means that Ellis’ explanation only applies to some kinds of depression
Cognitive behavioural therapy
-Begins with an assessment in which patient + therapist work together to clarify the patient’s problems.
-They identify goals + develop a plan to achieve them.
-One central task is to identify negative/irrational thoughts that need to be challenged.
-May involve behavioural activation where the patient is encouraged to become more active + engaged in activities they find enjoyable.
Ellis’ rational emotive behaviour therapyq
-Extends ABC model to ABCDE: D- dispute + E for effect.
-The central technique is to identify + challenge the irrational thought.
-Empirical argument- challenging whether there is actual evidence supporting the negative belief e.g. where is the evidence that your friends don’t like u anymore?
-Logical argument- challenging whether the negative thought logically follows from the facts e.g. you failed the trial exam, but your class assessments were good, so how can you say your bad at psych?
AO3 CBT limitation
P-CBT may not be suitable to use with all patients
Ev- people who have light levels of irrational beliefs are both rigid + resistant to change, may not benefit from CBT.
Ex- CBT also appears to be less suitable in situations where high levels of distress experienced by the patient reflect realistic stressors in their life
L- Furthermore, some patients may want to talk about the past + find the CBT ‘present focus’ frustrating
AO3 CBT strength
P-researhc support for effectiveness of CBT for depression.
Ev- E.g. March et al (2007) compared the effects of CBT with an antidepressant drug + a combo of the 2 in 327 adolescents with a main diagnosis of depression. After 36 weeks 81% of the CBT group, 81% of the antidepressant + 86% of both were significantly improved.
Ex- So, SBT is just as effective as medication and helpful alongside medication.
L- Suggests there is a good case making for CBT the first choice of treatment in public health care systems like the NHS, as it also avoids the side effects that come with antidepressants
