Cognitive Explanations Of Depression

Question 1

Beck’s cognitive theory of depression

Answer 1

• Faulty information processing: When depressed, we attend to focus on the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. As well as this, they tend to blow small problems out of proportion and think in ‘black and white’ terms
• Negative self-schemas: A self-schema is the package of information we have about ourselves. We use schemas to interpret the world, so if we have a negative self-schema, we interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way

Question 2

Beck’s negative triad

Answer 2

A person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves because of 3 types of negative thinking that occur naturally:
- negative view of the self (such thoughts enhance low self-esteem)
- negative view of the world (this creates the impression that there is no hope anywhere)
- negative view of the future (such thoughts reduce any hope and enhance depression)