Cognitive approach to explaining depression Flashcards
What is Beck’s negative triad?
Depressed people have acquired a negative schema during childhood.
-They have a negative view of the world
-Stems from negative criticisms e.g from teachers
The Negative Triad shows that a Negative view of Self, Negative view of the World, Negative view of the Future are all interconnected
-Each component of the triad causes the other components
What is Ellis’ ABC model?
A- Activating event
(fired at work)
B- Irrational Belief
(They’ve always hated me)
C- Consequence (depression)
What are Musturbatory beliefs?
Source of irrational thinking
-e.g I MUST do well, I MUST be accepted
-or I WILL be worthless
-this means that they are always bound to be dissapointed and therefore depressed
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Practical applications in therapy
Cognitive explanation has led to the development of CBT
-proven to be the best treatment of depression
The usefulness of CBT supports the accuracy and effectiveness of the cognitive approach
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Puts the blame on the patient
This gives the patient the power to change the way things are
-this can aid recovery as patients know it is not irreversible, and that they are capable of recovering
As opposed to the biological approach which suggests that depression is predetermined due to biological factors
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Not all ‘irrational’ beliefs are irrational
It has been shown by a number of studies that depressive realists see things how they are
-depressed people give more accurate estimates of when a disaster may occur than non-depressed people
Therefore the so-called ‘irrational’ beliefs in the ABC model may not actually be irrational
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Biological approach
The biological approach suggests that genes and neurotransmitters are the cause of depression
-low levels of serotonin are more common in depressed people due to them having a gene which causes it
This causes a genetic vulnerability to depression (stress-diathesis model) which when paired with a stimulus can cause depression
