Depression

Question 1

What is depression?

Answer 1

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels.

Question 2

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 2

Disruption to sleep and eating - insomnia, hypersomnia, weight gain or loss.
Aggression and self harm.
Activity levels - reduced energy levels which often results on the sufferer withdrawing from various aspects of their life.

Question 3

What are the emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 3

Lowered mood - ‘worthless’ ‘empty’.
Lowered self-esteem - self loathing.
Anger.

Question 4

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 4

Absolutist thinking.
Poor concentration.
Dwelling on the negative.

Question 5

What are the 2 cognitive approaches to explaining depression?

Answer 5

Beck’s cognitive triad

Ellis’ ABC model

Question 6

What were the 3 kinds of negative thinking that Beck suggested led to depression?

Answer 6

A - negative view of the world.
B - negative view of the future.
C - negative view of self.

Question 7

What are the 2 factors that Beck suggested led to the negative thinking?

Answer 7

Faulty information processing - focus on negative aspects of a situation instead of the positives and may blow small problems out of proportion.
Negative self-schemas - if we have negative self schema we will interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way.

Question 8

State 2 strengths of Beck’s cognitive triad.

Answer 8

Good supporting evidence - Grazioli and Terry assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after giving birth. They found that those women judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression.
Practical aspect in CBT - components of the negative triad are easily identifiable and the therapist can then challenge them and encourage the patient to test whether they are true.

Question 9

State a criticism of Beck’s cognitive triad.

Answer 9

Doesn’t explain all aspects of depression - some sufferers are deeply angry and Beck’s cannot easily explain this extreme emotion.

Question 10

What are A, B and C in the ABC model?

Answer 10

A - activating events
B - beliefs
C - consequences

Question 11

How does the ABC model work?

Answer 11

An activating event triggers an irrational belief which in turn leads to a consequence.

Question 12

State a strength of the ABC model.

Answer 12

CBT application - by challenging an individuals irrational beliefs a person can reduce their depression.

Question 13

State 2 criticisms of the ABC model.

Answer 13

Only applies to reactive depression - not all depression had a defining triggering event and is therefore only a partial explanation for depression.
Doesn’t explain anger within aggression or that some sufferers experience hallucinations and delusions.

Question 14

What are the 2 types of CBT?

Answer 14

Beck’s cognitive therapy

Ellis’ rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)

Question 15

What is CBT?

Answer 15

A method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques.
From a cognitive viewpoint it aims to deal with thinking e.g. challenging negative thoughts.

Question 16

Explain Beck’s CBT.

Answer 16

Focuses on challenging the negative thoughts about oneself, the world and the future (negative triad).
The thought can be directly challenged and the patient is encouraged to test the reality of their negative beliefs.
‘Patient as scientist’ - sometimes the patient is asked to record positive experiences that can then be used to challenge beliefs in future sessions.

Question 17

Explain REBT.

Answer 17

Extends the model to ABCDE:
D - dispute
E - effect
The therapist aims to dispute irrational thoughts and beliefs and encourages the patients to challenge these.

Question 18

What is behavioural activation?

Answer 18

The therapist may also work to encourage the patient to be more active and engage in enjoyable activities. - this will provide more evidence for the irrational nature of their beliefs.

Question 19

State a strength of CBT.

Answer 19

It is effective - study done by March et al. compared the effects of CBT, medication and then a combination of the 2 on 397 adolescents with a main diagnosis of depression.
After 36 weeks:
81% of CBT, 81% of antidepressants and 86% of combination patients had significantly improved.
Showing CBT is just as effective as medication.

Question 20

State 2 criticisms of CBT.

Answer 20

Severe cases - patients may not be able to motivate themselves to engage in the hard cognitive work of CBT.
At this stage CBT may be used in combination with antidepressants when the patient is more alert and attentive but means CBT may not always be used as the sole treatment.
Success may be down to patient-therapist relations.