depression

Question 1

define depression

Answer 1

a mental disorder characterised by low moods and energy levels.

Question 2

define behavioural characteristics

Answer 2

ways in which people act

Question 3

define emotional characteristics

Answer 3

ways in which people feel

Question 4

define cognitive characteristics

Answer 4

ways in which people think, know, perceive and believe.

Question 5

what are some behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 5

low activity levels- lethargic
high activity levels- sometimes psychomotor agitation can occur
disruption to sleep- insomnia, hyper insomnia
disruption to eating behaviour- increase/ decrease= weight loss/weight gain.
aggression and self harm- irritable, verbally/physically aggressive, could be physical aggression towards one self.

Question 6

what are some emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 6

lowered mood- ‘worthless’ ‘empty’
anger- directed at self or others
lowered self-esteem- liking themselves less than usual, extreme cases= self-loathing

Question 7

what are some cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 7

poor concentration- unable to stick with tasks, might find it harder to make decisions.
attending to and dwelling on negative aspects-‘glass half empty’ eg; recall mostly unhappy events
absolutist thinking- see situations in black and white

Question 8

what is the cognitive approach?

Answer 8

has come to mean ‘mental processes’. thought, perception and attention affect behaviour.

Question 9

what is the definition of Beck’s negative triad?

Answer 9

three kinds of negative thinking that contributed to depression.
negative views of the world
the future and the self
these lead a person to interpret there feelings in a negative way.

Question 10

what is the definition of Elis’ ABC model?

Answer 10

depression occurs when
an Activating event triggers
a negative Belief which in turn produces
a Consequence.
this is a key process in irrational belief.

Question 11

what is the definition of irrational belief ?

Answer 11

any thoughts that interfere with us being happy and pain free.

Question 12

who believes that the way people think creates a vulnerability for depression

Answer 12

beck

Question 13

what is faulty information processing?

Answer 13

focusing on the negatives, blowing small problems out of proportion.

Question 14

what is a negative schema?

Answer 14

a schema is package of ideas and information developed through experience.
Mental framework .
A package of information that we have about ourselves.
use them to interpret the world
INTERPRET ALL INFORMATION NEGATIVELY
maintains negative triad.

Question 15

describe the negative triad further

Answer 15

automatic negative thinking. Negative views of the world, the future and the self. Negative views of the future reduce any hopefulness

Question 16

describe the ABC model further

Answer 16

based on the argument that good mental health is the result of rational thinking.
conditions such of depression are thought to be irrational thoughts.
Elis’ 1962 has the Activating event, irrational Belief, Consequence

Question 17

what is musturbatory thinking in regards to the ABC model?

Answer 17

the source of irrational beliefs. eg ‘ I must do well, or I am worthless’.

Question 18

what is Utopianism in regards to the ABC model?

Answer 18

the belief that life should always be fair.

Question 19

why does mutsturbatory and utopianism need to be challenged?

Answer 19

this is because these ‘musts’ need to be challenged for mental healthieness.

Question 20

Evaluate Becks cognitive theory using a strength

Answer 20

P: there is supporting evidence for becks cognitive theory.
E: Grazioli and Terry (2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for vulnerability and depression before and after birth. the findings shown that mothers with high cognitive vulnerability had more of a chance of developing post-natal depression.
E: this supports the cognitive explanation that depression is due to mental processing.

Question 21

Evaluate Becks cognitive theory using another strength x2

Answer 21

P: the cognitive approach has useful applications for treating depression.

E: Beck’s explanation has been applied to therapy in the form of CBT where all cognitive aspects of negative triad can be identified and challenged through CBT.

E: this has been consistently been found as treatment for depression. this suggest that negative thoughts probably have a role in depression.

Question 22

Evaluate Elis’ ABC model using a strength

Answer 22

P: the ABC model has led to successful therapy.

E: the idea that challenging irrational beliefs can reduce depression is supported by lipzky et al.

E: this is turn supports the basic theory as it suggests irrational beliefs have a role in depression.

Question 23

Evaluate Elis’ ABC model using a weakness

Answer 23

P: not alll cases of depression follow an activating event.

E: some people develop depression without there being a disaster.

E: this means that ellis’ explanation only applies to some kinds of depression.
partial explanation.

Question 24

Evaluate the cognitive approach using a weakness

Answer 24

Depression can also be explained in terms of genetic factors and neurotransmitters.

example studies have found low levels of neurotransmitters serotonin in depressed people, and a gene relate to serotonin is ten times common in depressed people

this suggests that the cognitive explanation for depression is not the only one.

diathesis stress model approach may be better as it looks at biological and cognitive.

Question 25

what is cognitive behaviour therapy?

Answer 25

method for treating mental disorder based the cognitive and behavioural techniques.

Question 26

what is the procedure regarding CBT?

Answer 26

begins with ASSESSMENT in which the patient and therapist WORK TOGETHER to clarify the patients PROBLEMS. They jointly IdENTIFY goals for the therapy and put together a PLAN.
negative or irrational thoughts are IDENTIFIED and CHALLENGED, they are then REPLACED with more EFFECTIVE behaviours.

Question 27

what is the aim of beck’s CBT?

Answer 27

identify automatic thoughts about the world, self and future.
while challenging the thoughts it also aims to help patients test the reality of their negative beliefs.

Question 28

why are patients given ‘homework’ when participating in CBT?

Answer 28

used in future sessions to disprove of the negative thoughts.

Question 29

what is behaviour activation regarding CBT?

Answer 29

it makes patients complete and engage in enjoyable actvities. Provides more evidence for the irrational beliefs.

Question 30

evaluate CBT using a strength…

Answer 30

research shows exercise can be beneficial in alleviating depression.

Babyek et al found that arobic excersise, anti depressants or both together was effective in treating depression.
significantly lower relapse rates for the group completing arobic excersise and the drug group.

this shows that exercise used in the behavioural activation part is highly effective.

Question 31

evaluate CBT using a weakness…

Answer 31

a weakness is that individual differences influence CBT’s effectiveness.

Elkin et al found it less suitable where peoples irrational beliefs are rigid and resistance to change. in some cases of depression patients have symptoms so severe that they cannot engage in therapy antidepressants needed before.

means CBT cannot be used as a sole treatment for all cases of depression.