depression Flashcards
What is depression?
Is a mental disorder characterised by low mood,loss of interest or pleasure and low energy levels.
what are the behavioural characteristics of Depression?
low activity levels
low mood
disruption to eating and sleep(hyposomnia/insomnia or appetite fluctuations)
aggression and self harm
what are the cognitive characteristics of depression?
absolutist thinking (all bad or all good)
focuses on negatives
poor concentration
what are the emotional chracteristics of depression?
lowered mood
low self esteem
anger
what are the forms of depression
Major depressive disorder: severe but short term
Persistent depressive disorder: long term and recurring
Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder: childhood temper tantrums
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: prior to menstrual cycle
what is clinical depression?
a set of complex symptoms.
The symptoms must be causing distress or impaired functioning in social and/ or occupational roles.
what are the two explanations of depression?
Beck’s cognitive theory of depression 1976
Ellis’ ABC model
what does Beck’s cognitive theory of depression state?
some people are more vulnerable to suffering from depression than others
What are the components of the vulnerability to depression of Beck’s theory of depression?
Negative triad; comprises of negative views about yourself,negative views about the world and negative views of the future
negative self-schema (negative view of yourself)
faulty information processing
how does the negative triad explain depression?
this is because these negative views about the world and themselves will potentially cause the beliefs to be ingrained due the faulty information processing
What does Ellis’ ABC model state?
conditions like depression cause people to have irrational thoughts which are thoughts which make us feel pain and unhappy.
what does the ABC model stand for
Activation event
Beliefs
Consequences
what does Ellis’ theory believe causes depression
an activation event is a negative event which occurs and then a person with characteristics of depression will believe that they are useless this will result consequences which will further ingrain the depression but in a person with logical thoughts their beleifs will be rational
what are the strengths of cognitive explanations for depression?
1.good supporting evidence for Beck’s explanation. Grazioli and Terry 2000 studied 65 women for vulnerability of depression and that women with higher vulnerability for depression were more likely to develop post natal depression. reviewed by Clark and beck and found solid support for cognitive factors effecting depression
2. is practical application, CBT based on Beck’s theory. as it uses the negative triad in order to treat depression
3.bad attachment to parents causes depression becuase parents shape cognition. concurs with theory
what are weaknesses of explanation of depression?
1.is a partial explanation, only explains depression when it caused by an apparent event
2. cognitive primacy, emotions not always based on cognitions. ignores the role of serotonnin so is limited
how is depression treated from a cognitive view?
CBT cognitive behavioural therapy
what is the aim of CBT?
to change faulty information processing and beliefs
what are the stages of CBT?
- initial assessment
- goal setting
- identifying negative/irrational thoughts using Ellis’ REBT or Beck’s cognitive therapy
4.Home work
What is done in different stages of CBT
1 initial assessment
the problems which the patient has will be identified
2. goal setting
goals what the patient wants to achieve will be defined
3. identifying negative/irrational thoughts
the therapist will identify the irrational thoughts which a patient has an will go through them using either Beck’s or Ellis’ therapy techniques
4. homework
will then be set in order to keep deconstructing negative thoughts between sessions
what is Beck’s cognitive therapy and how is it done?
is a therapy in which the negative triad is used in order to test reality of irrational beliefs.
the therapist will help the patient identify negative thoughts and will challenge these thoughts by looking at evidence available for and against them
what is Ellis’ REBT therapy and how is it done?
is rational emotive behavioural therapy. adds new letters to the ABC model. these are D which stands for dispute and E which stands for effective. the therapist will first dispute the irrational thoguths which the patient has. these thoughts will then hopefully be replaced by effective thoughts
What are the strengths of cognitive treatments of depression?
1.is effective, March et al 2007 found that 81% of patients with depression who were treated using CBT were significantly improved upon after 36 weeks and with a combination of CBT and antidepressants was 86%. CBT good first option.
what are the weaknesses of the cognitive treatments of depression?
1.may not work for severe patients. as they may not have the motivation to continue treatment under CBT or pay attention to the sessions. antidepressants may be better
2.Rozenweig 1936 suggested that the type of method may not change effectiveness of treatment but rather the patient-therapist relationship. CBT may not be more effectiveness
3. doesn’t take into account different reasons for depression. such as reactive depression. taking into account previous events may be helpful to patients so CBT limited
4. is reductionist as it only takes into account cognition and not factors such as biology
