Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression Flashcards
cognitive approach to explaining depression
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irrational thinking leads to mental disorder
faulty thinking is caused by cognitive errors which are maladaptive, illogical and unhealthy beliefs
assumes that people are active processors of information and that thinking shapes their behaviour
the way that people perceive or view events cause problems, not the actual events themselves
healthy thoughts led to healthy behaviours, while unhealthy thoughts lead to unhealthy behaviours
2 cognitive explanations of depression…
• ABC model — focuses on the effect of irrational thinking and beliefs on emotions
• negative triad — focuses on how negative schemas/expectations about the self, the world and the future can lead to depression
define the ABC model
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a cognitive approach to understanding mental disorders such as depression
focuses on the effect of irrational thinking and beliefs on emotions
define the negative triad
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a cognitive approach to understanding depression
focuses on how negative expectations (schemas) about the self, world and future lead to depression
ABC MODEL
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proposed by Ellis (1962)
suggests that the key to mental disorders like depression lies in irrational beliefs
events are not the cause of depression, the way that we perceive events cause the problem — a person who fails an exam may become depressed, not because they failed the exam but because they view this failure irrationally
A = activating event (such as failing an exam)
B = beliefs as a result of the event, may be rational or irrational (a rational thought would be “i didn’t study hard enough this time but i’ll improve for the next exam” but an irrational thought would be “i am worthless, i failed because i’m stupid”)
C = consequence of such thoughts and beliefs, rational beliefs lead to healthy consequences (e.g. acceptance, realising there is chance for improvement) whereas irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy consequences (e.g. depression, dropping out of college)
ABC MODEL: mustabatory thinking
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the source of irrational beliefs lies in mustabatory thinking
mustabatory thinking = thinking that certain ideas must be true in order for an individual to be happy
Ellis identified the 3 most important mustabatory beliefs…
• i must be approved of or accepted by the people i find important
• i must do well or i am worthless
• the world must give me happiness or i will die
a person holding such beliefs is bound to be disappointed or even depressed as they have unrealistic expectations, which causes depression as they’re left with feelings of constant worthlessness
such ‘musts’ need to be challenged in order for mental healthiness to prevail
NEGATIVE TRIAD
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developed by Beck (1967)
suggests that depressed people are depressed because their thinking is biased towards negative interpretations of the world and they lack a perceived sense of control
negative schemas and cognitive biases maintain the negative triad
the negative triad consists of a pessimistic and irrational view of 3 key elements…
• the self — “i’m unattractive and bore everyone”
• the world — “no one likes me”
• the future — “i will always be alone and nothing will change”
NEGATIVE TRIAD: what is a schema?
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a cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information in the brain
helps an individual to make sense of new information
NEGATIVE TRIAD: role of negative schemas
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people with depression have acquired a negative schema during childhood, perhaps due to peer rejection or criticism from parents, so tend to have negative views of the world
negative schemas are activated whenever a person encounters a new situation that resembles the original conditions in which these schemas were learned (e.g. an expectation to fail will activate in an exam)
lead to systematic cognitive biases in thinking — individuals tend to overgeneralise and draw sweeping conclusions regarding self worth on the basis of one small negative experience
they may apply these beliefs to different and inappropriate situations
magnification is the process of overestimating the significance of negative events
x3 evaluation points for the cognitive approach to explaining depression
research support
practical applications in therapy
blames the client
evaluation
RESEARCH SUPPORT
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the cognitive approach suggests that depression is linked to irrational thoughts
this claim is supported by Krantz et al who found that depressed participants made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material than non depressed participants
other studies have found that depressed participants who were given negative automatic thought statements became more and more depressed, supporting the view that negative thinking leads to depression
HOWEVER, there may be a link but negative thoughts may not be the cause behind depression, people may think irrationally as a result of their depression
evaluation
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS IN THERAPY
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the approach has led to the development of therapy to treat depression, including CBT
CBT is based on the cognitive approach (briefly explain it….)
CBT has consistently been found to be the best and most effective treatment for depression, especially when used in conjunction with drug treatments, as it challenges irrational thinking
this also supports the cognitive approach because it suggests that such irrational thoughts have a role in depression in the first place
therefore, the approach can be said to be very useful as it can be practically applied to real life and CBT also supports the approach’s main ideas
evaluation
BLAMES THE CLIENT
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the approach blames the client rather than any situational factors
it suggests that the person with depression is responsible for their disorder due to the way they think
this overlooks situational factors that can lead to depression by not considering how life events or family problems may contribute to depression
so according to this approach, recovery lies in changing the client’s mind rather than changing things in their life
but it is not appropriate to claim that it’s not the events that are the problem, it’s the way we view the events that are the problem, especially in cases of domestic abuse, rape and so on
according to the approach, the disorder is simply in the client’s mind which may put too much pressure on them to change their own thoughts, and if this fails they may blame themselves which will only make their disorder worse
