depression Flashcards
what is depression?
a mental disorder that is characterised by low mood and low energy levels
what depressive disorders does the DSM-5 recognise?
major depressive disorder- severe but short term
persistent depressive disorder- long term or recurring major depression
disruptive mood dysregulation disorder- childhood temper tantrums
premenstural dysphoric disorder- disruption to mood around menstruation
what are the behavioural characteristics of depression?
lowered activity levels (for example: finding it hard to get out of bed, or being agitated), disruption to sleep and eating behaviour (for example eating or sleeping more than usual or less), aggression towards others, self harm
what are the emotional characteristics of depression?
a lowered mood (for example: feeling worthless, unhappy and ‘empty’), anger, which can be directed towards the self or others , lowered self-confidence and self-esteem
what are the cognitive characteristics of depression?
poor concentration (for example: being unable to stick to and finish a task), dwelling on the negative (for example: only focusing on the bad aspects of the situation and ignoring the positive aspects), absolutist thinking, where things are percieved a perfect successes or disasters, with nothing in between
what are the 2 cognitive approaches to explaining depression?
becks explanation of depression
ellis’ ABC model
what are the 3 steps in becks explanation of depression?
faulty information processing
negative self-schema
becks negative triad
what is the step ‘faulty information processing’ in becks explanation to depression?
- depressed people are more likely to focus on the negative aspect of situations, ignoring positives
- they distort and misinterpret info (e.g. overgeneralisations, catastrophising)
- so depression comes from faulty cognitions
what is the step ‘negative self-schema’ in becks explanation of depression?
- a schema is a ‘package’ of knowledge, which stores info. and ideas about our self and the world around us
- these are developed during childhood. depressed people have negative self schemas, which come from negative experiences (e.g. criticism from parents, peers, teachers)
- those with a negative self schema interpret info about themselves in a negative way, which can lead to faulty cognitions
what is the step ‘becks negative triad’ in becks explanation for depression?
- faulty cognitions and negative self schemas maintain the negative triad, a negative and irrational view of ourselves, our future and the world around us
- for sufferers of depression, these thoughts occur automatically
what is becks negative triad?
↗️ negative views about the world ↘️
negative views about the future ⬅️ negative views about oneself
what can the negative triad lead to?
- overgeneralisation
- magnification of problems (seeing them as more important than they are)
- selective perception (focusing on the negative)
- absolutist thinking (all or nothing)
what does ellis believe causes depression?
people can become depressed depending on their responses to events/stresses etc in life
what are the 3 stages of Ellis’ ABC model to explain depression?
A- activating event
B- belief
C- consequence
what is the stage ‘Activating event’ (A) in ellis’ explanation of depression?
an activating event is the external situation that there is a reaction too
(e.g. bereavement, relationship breakdown, losing a job…)
what is the stage ‘belief’ (B) in ellis’ explanation to depression?
a belief is why the individual thought A happened
- irrational beliefs are often linked with thinking in terms of:
1) ‘musts’ (“i must pass this exam”- he calls this ‘musterbation’ - the belief that we must always succeed or achieve perfection)
2) utopianism - the belief hat life is always meant to be fair
what is the stage ‘consequence’ (C) in ellis’ explanation of depression?
the results of the activating event followed by irrational beliefs so it is depression
AO3: how is ‘there is good supporting evidence’ a strength to becks cognitive explanation to depression?
one strength to becks negative triad as a cognitive explanation to depression is that there is supporting evidence. this is because there is evidence that supports the idea that depression is associated with faulty information processing, negative self schemas and the cognitive triad of automatic negative thinking. for example, Grazoli and Terry assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. they found that those women who were judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer from post-natal depression. therefore, this supports the idea that beck may have been right about faulty cognitions and negative self schemas causing depression.
AO3: how is ‘it has practical application in CBT’ a strength to the cognitive explanations of depression?
one strength to the cognitive explanation to depression is that it has practical application in treating depression. for example, both beck and ellis’ explanations have led to the development of CBT as a way of helping patients to deal with their depression. both forms of therapys have also been proven to be effective when treating depression. therefore, this has helped us to develop effective treatments for depression.
AO3: how is ‘it doesnt explain all aspects of depression’ a limitation to the cognitive explanation of depression?
one limitation to the cognitive explanations of depression is that they don’t explain all aspects of depression. for example, becks and ellis’ theories explains the basic symptoms of depression, however research has found that depression is more complex. some depressed patients are deeply angry and beck cannot easily explain this extreme emotion. for example, some sufferers of depression suffer from hallucinations and bizarre beliefs and occasionally they may suffer with cotard syndrome, the delusion that they are zombies. therefore, becks and ellis’ theories cant easily explain these cases meaning they are a partial explanation to depression.
AO3: how is ‘lacks scientific status’ a limitation to the cognitive explanation of depression?
one limitation to the cognitive explanation to explaining depression is that is lacks scientific status. this is because this explanation could be argues to lack scientific rigour as it cant fully determine cause and effect. for example, do patients suffer from depression because they have these cognitive distortions or do they tend to focus on the negative because they are depressed. therefore, this explanation cant claim cause and effect meaning it isn’t seen as fully scientific.
what is CBT a a way of treating depression?
it is a talking therapy that also involves cognitive and behavioural therapy. it helps individuals to manage their depression by changing the way they think and behave
what is becks cognitive therapy to treating depression?
he believed that the idea behind cognitive therapy is to identify automatic thoughts about the world, the self and the future (negative triad). and once identified these should be challenged. this is the central component of the therapy. as well as challenging these thoughts directly, cognitive therapy aims to help patients test the reality of their negative beliefs
this might be something along the lines of being set homework such as to record an event that made the patient happy or when people were nice to them. this can be referred to as the ‘patient as scientist’, investigating the reality of their negative beliefs in a way scientists would. in future sessions if patients say that no one is nice to them or there is no point in going to events, the therapist can produce the evidence and use it to prove the patients statement wrong.
what does REBT stand for?
rational emotive behaviour therapy
