Depression (explanation)

Question 1

Who came up with the ABC model?

Answer 1

Ellis 1962

Question 2

What does the ABC model stand for?

Answer 2

A: an activating event
B: the belief - rational or irrational
C: the consequence - rational beliefs = healthy emotions, irrational beliefs = unhealthy emotions

Question 3

Give an example of the ABC model

Answer 3

A: you get fired at work
B: rational (the company was over staffed) or irrational (you were sacked because you were disliked)
C: healthy emotions (acceptance) or unhealthy emotions (anger)

Question 4

What is musturbatory thinking?

Answer 4

Thinking that certain ideas or assumptions must be true in order for an individual to be happy
The source of irrational beliefs lie here

Question 5

Give an example of masturbatory thinking

Answer 5

An individual who fails an exam becoming depressed not because they failed the exam but because they hold an irrational belief regarding that failure

Question 6

What did Beck believe that depressed people acquired during childhood?

Answer 6

a negative schema - a tendency to adopt a negative view of the world

Question 7

what could this have been caused by?

Answer 7

parental and/or peer rejection and criticisms by teachers

Question 8

when is this activated?

Answer 8

whenever the person encounters a new situation that resembles the original conditions in which these schemas were learned

Question 9

what does this lead to?

Answer 9

systematic cognitive biases in thinking (distortions in thinking that cause a person to have a warped perspective on reality)

Question 10

what do negative schemes and cognitive biases maintain?

Answer 10

the negative triad

Question 11

what is the negative triad?

Answer 11

a pessimistic and irrational view of three elements in a persons belief system:
1. the self - a negative perception of yourself
2. the world - the negative life experiences
3. the future - negative expectations of what will happen

Question 12

Evaluation?

Answer 12

• the cognitive approach suggests that it is the client who is responsible for their disorder
• can be a good thing; gives the client power to change thew way things are
• may lead client or therapist to overlook situational factors; e.g. how life events or family problems may have contributed to the mental disorder
• strength of cognitive approach lies in its focus on the client’s mind/recovery but other aspects of the clients life need to be considered

Question 13

evaluation?

Answer 13

• Cujipers et al 2013; CBT is consistently found to be the best treatment for depression, especially when used in conjunction with drug treatments
• usefulness of CBT as a therapy supports the effectiveness of the cognitive approach; if depression is alleviated by challenging irrational thinking then this suggests such thoughts had a role in the depression in the first place

Question 13

evaluation?

Answer 13

• biological approach to understanding mental disorder suggests that genes and neurotransmitters may cause depression
• Zhang et al 2005; research supports role of low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in depressed people
• a gene related to this is 10 times more common in people with depression
• existence of alternative approaches suggests depression can’t be explained by the cognitive approach alone