cognitive explanation of depression

Question 1

Cognitive approach

Answer 1

Focuses on how our mental processes affect behaviour

Question 2

Who proposed the negative triad

Answer 2

Beck

Question 3

Negative triad

Answer 3

There are three kinds of negative thinking that contribute to being depressed
- Negative views of world
- Negative views of self
- Negative views of future

Question 4

NT - Faulty information processing

Answer 4

Depressed people attend to negative aspects of situation and ignore positives
Black and white thinking

Question 5

NT - Negative self-schema

Answer 5

Package of information people have about themselves
Interpret all information about themselves in a negative way

Question 6

NT - Negative triad

Answer 6

These negative thoughts occur automatically
- World - impression there is no hope anywhere
- Self - thoughts enhance any existing depressive feelings, confirm the existing emotions of low self-esteem
- Future - reduce any hopefulness and enhance depression

Question 7

NT - research support

Answer 7

• Strength
• Cognitive vulnerability - predisposition to depression
• Clark and Beck - not only were cognitive vulnerabilities more common in depressed people but they preceded the depression
• Cohen et al - 473 adolescents - those showing cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression
• Association between cognitive vulnerability and depression

Question 8

NT - application

Answer 8

• Applications in screening and treatment for depression
• Cohen et al - assessing cognitive vulnerability allows to screen young people - can apply CBT to make more resilient to negative life events
• Useful in more than one aspect of clinical practice

Question 9

NT - partial explanation

Answer 9

• Limitation
• This pattern can be present before onset of depression
• Some aspects to depression that are not particularly well explained by cognitive explanations eg hallucinations and delusions

Question 10

Who proposed the ABC model

Answer 10

Ellis

Question 11

ABC model

Answer 11

Conditions like anxiety and depression result from irrational thoughts

Question 12

A

Answer 12

Activating event

A negative life event eg failing an important test

Question 13

B

Answer 13

Beliefs

Irrational interpretations of A make us overreact to the life event
- Musturbation - feeling we always need to succeed
- I-cant-stand-it-itis major disaster when something doesn’t go smoothly
- Utopianism - life is always meant to be fair

Question 14

C

Answer 14

Consequences

Emotional and behavioural outcome is depression

Question 15

ABC - application

Answer 15

• Strength - real life application in treatment
• Rational emotive behaviour therapy
• Vigorously arguing with a depressed person - therapist can alter irrational beliefs that make them unhappy
• Evidence to support - David et al
• Real-world value

Question 16

ABC - partial explanation

Answer 16

• Limitation - only explains reactive depression and not endogenous depression
• No doubt often triggered by life events - reactive depression
• Many cases of depression are not traceable to life events - endogenous depression
• Less useful for explaining endogenous depression
• Can only explain some cases so partial explanation

Question 17

ABC - ethics

Answer 17

• controversial - puts responsibility for depression purely on depression person
• Blaming the depressed person according to critics
• However
• If used appropriately and sensitively - REBT - make at least some depressed people achieve more resilience and feel better