Depression

Question 1

DSM-V categories(depression and depressive orders):

Answer 1

Major depressive disorders - severe, but short term
Persistent depressive disorder - long term or recurring depression, including sustained major depression
Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - childhood temper tantrums
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation

Question 2

Unipolar disorder:

Answer 2

An episode of depression that can occur suddenly(can be reactive - death of a loved one) or can be endogenous(inside)-neurological factors

Question 3

Bipolar disorder

Answer 3

Manic and depressive episodes: change of mood in regular cycles, mania: over-activity, rapid speech and feeling happy or agitated

Question 4

Emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 4

Lowered mood(worthless and empty)
Anger- directed at self or others(aggressive/self harm behaviour)
Lowered self esteem(sense of self loathing)

Question 5

Depression - behavioural characteristics

Answer 5

Anxiety levels: reduced energy- withdrawal from work, education and social life
Disruption to sleep and eating nehaviour: insomnia or hypersomnia
Increasing or decreasing appetite - weight gain/loss
Aggression and self harm: irritable(verbal or physical aggression)
Anhedonia - decreased ability to maintain pleasure/interest.

Question 6

Depression - cognitive characteristics

Answer 6

1. Poor concentration/decision making
2. Attention to and dwelling on the negative
3. Absolutist thinking(‘all good or all bad’ thinking)

Question 7

Key assumptions of the cognitive approach to depression

Answer 7

1. Individuals who suffer from mental health disorders have distorted and irrational thinking- which may cause maladaptive behaviour.
2. It is the way you think about the problem, rather than the problem itself, which causes mental health disorders.
3. Individuals can overcome mental health disorders by learning to use more appropriate conditions.If people think in more positive ways, they can be helped to feel better.

Question 8

Beck(1967) explanation of cognitive approach to depression

Answer 8

Beck suggested there’s a cognitive explanation as to why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others.
He suggested three parts to this cognitive vulnerability:
1. Faulty information processing
2. Negative self-schemas
3. Negative triad(negative world, self and future: causes people to have depression)

Question 9

Beck cognitive vulnerability - faulty information processing

Answer 9

Beck believed people who have depression make fundamental errors in logic.
Beck proposed people who have depression tend to selectively attend to the negative aspects of a situation, and ignore the positive aspects.
There’s a tendency to blow small problems out of proportion with thinking in terms of black and white ignoring the middle ground:you are a success or a failure, rather than not good at some things, but OK at others.

Question 10

Cognitive vulnerability - Aaron Beck: negative self schemas

Answer 10

People who have depression have developed negative self-schemas, and therefore they interpret all the information about themselves in a negative way.

Question 11

Cognitive vulnerability: Aaron Beck - negative triad

Answer 11

Beck built on the idea of maladaptive responses, and suggested people with depression become trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts.
They have a tendency to view themselves, the world and the future in pessimistic ways - the triad of impairments:
Negative view of the self(I am incompetent and undeserving)
Negative view of the world(it is a hostile place)
Negative view of the future(problems will not disappear, there will always be emotional pain)

Question 12

Ellis(1962)

Answer 12

Ellis proposed good mental health is the result of rational thinking.
Ellis argued there are common irrational beliefs that underlie much depression(poor mental health), and sufferers have based their lives on these beliefs.

Question 13

Ellis’ ABC Model

Answer 13

Ellis suggested that for depression:
A) An action is affected by
B)An individual’s beliefs which result in
C)A Consequence
If beliefs are subject to cognitive biases(in the same way as Beck’s), then they can cause irrational thinking which may produce undesirable behaviours.

Question 14

Ellis’ ABC Model - Activating event

Answer 14

Ellis is focused on situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered by external events - We have depression when we experience negative events and these events trigger irrational beliefs

Question 15

Ellis’ ABC Model - beliefs

Answer 15

Ellis identified a range of irrational beliefs:
We must always succeed or achieve perfection ‘masturbation’
‘I can’t-stand-it-itis’- whenever something does not go smoothly, it is a disaster
Utopianism - life is always meant to be fair

Question 16

Ellis’s ABC Model - consequence

Answer 16

When an activating event triggers irrational beliefs, there are emotional and behavioural consequences.