Depression Flashcards
What are the clinical characteristics of depression?
Reduced activity levels, Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour, aggression and self harm
Lowered mood, anger, lowered self esteem
Poor concentration, Dwelling on negative, Absolutist thinking
What is cognitive primacy?
A person’s thoughts and attitudes direct their behaviour and emotions
What is Beck’s negative triad?
Individuals are depressed as their thinking is biased towards negative interpretations of the world
1)The self- see themselves as worthless
2)The world
3)the future
What is Ellis’ ABC model?
A- Activating event
B- Belief about why event occurred, can be rational or irrational
C- consequence, either healthy or unhealthy emotion depending on belief
Strengths of cognitive explanations
Good supporting evidence of Beck’s theory- Grazioli and Terry (2000)- pregnant women with cognitive vulnerability more likely to suffer post natal depression
Practical applications in therapy
Weaknesses of cognitive explanations
Beck’s theory doesn’t explain all aspects of depression- just focuses on one aspect
Ellis’ model only a partial explanation
Cognition not always root of depression
What are the two main types of Cognitive therapy?
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT)
What is Beck’s CBT?
Collective empiricism- agreement on and clarify patients problems, identify goals
Clients complete homework assignments
Uses socratic questioning to make patient aware of negative thoughts
Patient acts as scientist to test beliefs
What is Ellis’ REBT?
Therapist disputes patients irrational beliefs
Vigorous arguments, two types: Empirical(evidence), and logical
Strengths of CBT
Effective
Research support- March et al compared CBT with antidepressants
CBT- 81% improvement
Antidepressants- 81% improvement
Both- 86% improvement
Weaknesses of CBT
May not be effective depending on individual- may refuse to engage with treatment
Fails to acknowledge biological factors- low levels of serotonin
