Cognitive approach: explaining depression

Question 1

What are the 2 cognitive approaches to explaining depression?

Answer 1

1. Beck’s negative triad
2. Ellis’s ABC model

Question 2

What is Beck’s negative triad?

Answer 2

Beck proposed that people with depression become trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts and have a tendency to view themselves, the world and the future in pessimistic ways.

Question 3

What are stems from negative schemas? (Beck’s negative triad)

Answer 3

A self schema is a package of ideas that we have about ourselves.

People who are depressed will have developed negative self schemas and therefore they interpret all information about themselves in a negative way:

1. Ineptness schema- an expectation of failure
2. Self blame schema- a feeling of responsibility for all misfortunes

Question 4

What are negative schemas maintained by? (Beck’s negative triad)

Answer 4

Cognitive biases which cause a misperception of reality:

1. Minimisation- minimalising positives in life (performing really well in an exam but claiming it was a fluke)
2. Overgeneralisation- sweeping conclusions drawn on the bias of a single event (failing a practice test so a student wishes to drop out of college)

Question 5

What is Ellis’s ABC model?

Answer 5

Ellis proposed that depression was mainly the result of irrational thoughts about external events.

1. Doesn’t lead to depression= Rational thoughts –>
   desirable thoughts and emotions –> desirable behaviour
2. May lead to depression= Irrational thoughts –> undesirable emotions and thoughts –> undesirable behaviour

Question 6

If the point is:

One strength for the cognitive explanation of depression is that it’s led to useful practical applications that help society and those suffering from depression.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 6

Evidence- For example, Beck and Ellis’s cognitive explanations form the basis of cognitive behavioural therapy which is proven to be 81% effective within treating people with depression.

Link- Therefore, it could be suggested that the high success rate of cognitive behavioural therapy validates the cognitive theories. For example, the fact that CBT challenges false negative beliefs and both approaches use this within their explanation helps to reduce depressive symptoms amongst patients.

Question 7

If the point is:

A weakness of the cognitive explanation of depression is that, while the theory is useful in explaining a sufferer’s current state of mind, it doesn’t fully outline the steps and process for how the sufferer came to think in this way in much detail.

What is the explanation and link?

Answer 7

Explanation- The cognitive approach is vague in establishing how this occurs and why certain people seem more susceptible to these types of thinking patterns than others.

Link- This limits the extent to which we can practically use these theories and it could be argued that the cognitive approach can’t fully explain the development of negative thinking and depression.

Question 8

If the point is:

A strength of the cognitive explanation of depression is that there’s a lot of evidence that supports the role of cognition in depression.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 8

Evidence- The Temple Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression sampled university students, none of which were suffering with depression, and were assessed every few months for 2 years.

Explanation- Results for the 1st 2 years showed 17% of those with high scores on negative thinking went on to experience a period of severe depression compared to 1% of those with low scores.

Link- This illustrates the significant role of cognition in cases of depression.

Question 9

If the point is:

Another strength of the cognitive explanation of depression is that it takes into account other aspects, such as genes and environment.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 9

Evidence- Beck and Ellis both suggested that aspects of the environment contribute to the development of depression and negative thinking.

Explanation- Ellis discusses activating events, whereas Beck suggests people develop negative outlooks in life because of rejection from childhood.

Link- This suggests that, unlike the biological or learning approaches, it offers a more complete explanation of depression.