Depression - characteristics, explanations and treatments Flashcards
What is depression?
Depression is the constant feeling of being sad and feeling empty + void. The DSm recognises several types and recognises several symptoms such as persistant low mood, lack of energy and low self esteem.
Behavioural characteristics of depression
Activity levels - reduced energy, tend to withdraw from school, work etc
Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour - insomnia or hypersomnia, increased or decreased appetite.
Aggression and self harm
Emotional characteristics of depression
Lowered mood
Anger
Lowered self esteem
Anhedonia - no longer enjoying activities that were previously enjoyed
Cognitive characteristics of depression
Poor concentration
Dwelling on negatives
Black and white thinking
Negative self beliefs
The cognitive approach to explaining depression - ellis’ abc model
Ellis proposed the key to mental disorders lay in irrational beliefs. The cognitive approach uses the S-O-R model. The stimulus is the activating event eg getting dumped. The organism is the belief such as an irrational thought eg nobody likes me and the response is the consequence in emotions and behaviour eg being upset and stopped eating.
What is the source of irrational beliefs?
The source of irrational beliefs lies in mustabatory thinking - thinking that assumptions or certain ideas must be true for an individual to be happy eg i must do well or i am worthless.
6 Negative Automatic Thoughts (NATs)
Selective abstraction - drawing conclusions from just one element of a situation
Minimisation - downplaying the importance of a positive thought or emotion
Personalisation - taking personal responsibility for events out of control
Arbitrary Inference - drawing conclusions when there is little or no evidence
Magnification - blowing things out of proportion
Overgeneralisation - making sweeping conclusions based on a single event
The cognitive approach to explaining depression - Beck’s negative triad
According to Beck depressed people have negative ways of thinking about themselves, the future and the world.
EVALUATION - How accurate is the cognitive approach at explaining depression?
1 - support for irrational thinking - depressed patients made more logical errors and more NATS given = more depressed - however are irrational thoughts the cause of depression
2 - limitation of irrational thoughts - depressed patients are realists and give more accurate estimations of likelihood of disasters than non depressed (sadder but wiser effect) - irrational thoughts may actually be rational to that person
3 - further strength is CBT works in treating depression eg challenging negative thoughts - particularly true alongside drug treatment - cognitive approach clearly offers effective treatment and works for majority - however CBT alone not as effective so could depression be more biological
4 - limitation that CBT and cognitive approach ignores alternative explanations eg genetics - serotonin is linked to depression and a mutation of the 5-HTT gene which inhibits serotonin production and this gene is 10 x more likely in people with depression - undermines cognitive approach as could be serotonin (biological) rather than irrational thinking (cognitive) - however cognitive approach can be made more valid when considering biology
The cognitive approach to treating depression - CBT
CBT - cognitive behavioural therapy
- this method is used by cognitive psychologists to treat depression - the aim is to turn irrational thoughts into rational ones
The cognitive approach to treating depression - Ellis ABCDEF model
Ellis extended his ABC model where
- D refers to disputing irrational thoughts and beliefs
- E stands for the effects of disputing and effective attitude to life
- F is the new feelings that are produced
He named his theory REBT (rational emotional behaviour therapy) and it uses logical disputing (does thinking in this way make sense) and empirical disputing (where is the proof that the belief is accurate)
EVALUATION - how accurate is the cognitive approach at treating depression?
1 - research support - REBT had an average of 27 sessions and found a 90% success rate. CBT has been found to be better than having no treatment - however therapy is not always effective for everyone.
2 - the less competent the therapist, the less effective the treatment outcomes. It also depends on how motivated the client is to challenge their beliefs and apply the strategies in real life - this means other factors can influence the effectiveness of CBT as if the patient is unwilling and resistant to change and haven’t built rapport with the therapist it won’t be as effective - therefore there are individual differences
3 - CBT seems less suitable for clients with high levels of irrational beliefs and those who are resistant to chang. CBT is also less effective when patient has high levels of stress for a realistic life situation - some cases may make the patient worse as lack of energy could lead to no attendance to therapy - therefore alongside biological treatments may be more effective
4 - CBT has been found more effective when used alongside SSRIs a form of anti depressants. They reduce symptom severity and enable the client to access CBT as they have more energy - this means that both irrational thoughts and symptoms can be tackled - long term recovery making it effective treatment
