Cognitive Approach To Explaining Depression Flashcards
What is Becks cognitive triad
Depression is caused by negative self schemas
Cognitive triad= negative and irrational view of ourselves,future and the world around us
What are negative self schemas
They’re developed during childhood
- depressed people have negative self-schemas which may come from negative experiences
What do negative schemas lead to
Cognitive biases
Beck found depressed people focus on the negatives ignoring positives
Eg overgeneralising, catastrophising
What is becks negative triad
Negative self schemas and cognitive biases maintain the negative triad
3 aspects of a persons life lead to depression:
- the self- ‘ nobody loves me’
-the world- ‘the world is an unfair place’
-the future- ‘I will always be a failure’
What is Ellis ABC model
Depression if caused by irrational thinking
A) activating event- eg you pass a friend and you say hi but they ignore you
B)beliefs- interpretation of event is rational or irrational eg rational interpretation is your friend is busy , irrational is your friend dislikes you
C) consequences- rational beliefs lead to healthy emotional outcomes, irrational lead to unhealthy emotional outcomes
AO3
— alternative explanation for depression is a biological condition
-genes- research found low levels of serotonin in patients with depression- drug therapies: SSRI increases serotonin - drug therapy
+application to therapy
-CBT and REBT- developed by Ellis ABC model- they attempt to challenge and identify irrational thoughts- treat people
— doesn’t explain the origin of irrational thoughts
- most research in this area is correlational- can’t determine if negative and irrational thoughts cause depression- correlation doesn’t lead to causation
+ research support by barley et al
- found patients with depression more likely to misinterpret info negatively and feel hopeless about future - supports Beck theory
