Depression - Explanation

Question 1

Which key approach is used in the explanation for depression?

Answer 1

The cognitive approach.

Question 2

What are cognitive psychologists concerned with in terms of explaining depression?

Answer 2

They are concerned with how irrational thinking can lead to depression.

Question 3

What are the explanations used to explain depression?

Answer 3

• Beck’s negative triad,

- Ellis’ ABC model.

Question 4

Who’s explanation was developed in line with the cognitive approach in the 1960’s?

Answer 4

Both Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis.

Question 5

What are the key assumptions of the explanation?

Answer 5

Individuals who suffer from the mental disorders have distorted and irrational thinking which causes maladaptive behaviour.
It is the way you think about the problem rather than the problem itself which causes the mental health disorder.

Question 6

What did Beck suggest about the explanation for depression?

Answer 6

Beck suggested that there is a cognitive explanation as to why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others.

Question 7

Beck suggested three parts to cognitive vulnerability, what were these?

Answer 7

• Negative self-schemas,
• Cognitive biases,
• Negative triad.

Question 8

What is a self-schema?

Answer 8

A package of ideas that we have about ourselves.

Question 9

What type of self-schemas do depressed people have?

Answer 9

Depressed people have developed negative self-schemas and therefore interpret all the information about themselves in a negative way.

Question 10

What was the aim of Weissman and Beck (1978)?

Answer 10

To investigate the thought of depressed people to establish if they make use of negative schemas.

Question 11

We use schemas to interpret the world, why is this a problem for depressed people?

Answer 11

Depressed people have negative self-schemas and therefore interpret all information about themselves in a negative way.

Question 12

Explain what Beck meant by faulty information processing?

Answer 12

Depressed people tend to attend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives, they also tend to blow small problems way out of proportion and think in ‘black and white’ terms.

Question 13

What are the components of the negative triad?

Answer 13

• Negative view of the world,
• Negative view of the future,
• Negative view of the self.

Question 14

What is a negative view of the world?

Answer 14

It is a hostile place.

Question 15

What is a negative view of the future?

Answer 15

Problems will not disappear, there will always be emotional pain.

Question 16

What is a negative view of the self?

Answer 16

I am incompetent and undeserving, (self hate).

Question 17

Beck believed that those who are depressed had fundamental errors in their logic, they mispercieve reality due to their cognitive biases. What are these cognitive biases?

Answer 17

1) Over-generalisation,
2) Personalisation,
3) Selective abstraction,
4) Magnification,
5) Minimisation.

Question 18

Jack is depressed, it is on the run up to exams that he begins feeling worse and worse as time goes on.
Using Beck’s Negative Triad, explain why Jack is finding it difficult to cope.

Answer 18

• He feels bad due to exams starting and him not being ready (self).
• Worried about the future exams (future).
• Exams are rubbish and pointless (world).
• They all combine and Jack feels worse and worse.

Question 19

What did Ellis believe about depression?

Answer 19

Ellis believed depressives mistakenly blame external events for their unhappiness. He strongly believed that irrational thinking causes depression.

Question 20

What did Ellis believe about depression?

Answer 20

Ellis believed depressives mistakenly blame external events for their unhappiness. He strongly believed that irrational thinking causes depression.

Question 21

What is the major premise of Ellis’ explanation?

Answer 21

The human goal is to achieve happiness, blocks will occur to this goal and the reactions to these blocks are either rational or irrational. Irrational responses lead to depression.

Question 22

Ellis believed that which type of reactions lead to depression?

Answer 22

Irrational.

Question 23

What is the A in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 23

Activating event.

Question 24

What is the B in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 24

Belief.

Question 25

What is the C in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 25

Consequences.

Question 26

Beck said depression leads to negative thoughts about what three things?

Answer 26

The self,
The future,
The world.

Question 27

Depressive people undoubtedly have negative thoughts, however, do the negative thoughts help cause depression, or do they merely occur as a result of depression, are they a cause or effect?

Answer 27

They are unobservable and unmeasurable therefore they cannot be told.

Question 28

How did Ellis describe irrational thoughts?

Answer 28

Not as illogical or unrealistic thoughts, but as any thoughts that interfere with us being happy and pain free.

Question 29

Which model explains how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state?

Answer 29

Ellis’ ABC model.

Question 30

Give an example of the ABC model for a rational thinking person when faced with a traffic jam:

Answer 30

A = Stuck in traffic.
B = There is probably a crash or danger ahead.
C = I will wait until it is safe for me to pass.

Question 31

What is the activating event part in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 31

An event which happens that is considered a ‘barrier’ whether it is failing a test or ending a relationship.

Question 32

What is the beliefs part in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 32

The belief that we must always achieve perfection and succeed, this is where the depressive person’s cognitive instability effects behaviours.

Question 33

What is the consequences part in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 33

When the event triggers the beliefs there will be behavioural and emotional consequences.

Question 34

AO3 - Attachment and depression.

Answer 34

Attachment studies have shown that those infants who develop insecure attachments to their parents are more vulnerable to depression in adulthood.

Question 35

AO3 - Reactive depression.

Answer 35

It is certain that some cases follow activating events, this are called reactive depression but many cases arise without an obvious cause. This means Ellis’ explanation is only applicable to cases of reactive depression.

Question 36

AO3 - (Beck) Doesn’t explain all aspects.

Answer 36

The theory explains well the basic symptoms of depression, patients who show extreme anger and frustration can not be explained by the theory. Beck’s theory also cannot explain patients with Cotard syndrome, the delusion that they are zombies.

Question 37

AO3 - Cognitive primacy.

Answer 37

Cognitive explanations share the idea that cognition causes depression, this is closely related to the concept of cognitive primacy (emotions are influenced by cognitions). However, this is not necessarily always the case in many places.

Question 38

AO3 - Attachment and depression.

Answer 38

Attachment studies have shown that those infants who develop insecure attachments to their parents are more vulnerable to depression in adulthood.

Question 39

AO3 - (Beck) CBT.

Answer 39

Beck’s cognitive explanation forms a basis of CBT, all cognitive aspects of depression can be identified and challenged by CBT. These include the components of the negative triad, this is a strength because the explanation being used in the treatments shows some things are true about it.

Question 40

What is reactive depression?

Answer 40

Depression that follows an activating effect.

Question 41

AO3 - (Ellis) CBT.

Answer 41

Ellis’ ABC model has also lead to successful CBT, the idea that challenging irrational beliefs can reduce depression is supported by research evidence.

Question 42

AO3 - (Beck) Supporting evidence.

Answer 42

The theory is supported by a range of evidence, Grazoli and Terry (2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression prior and post birth. They found that those women who had high cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression. This suggest Beck might be right about cognition causing depression.

Question 43

AO3 - (Ellis) Doesn’t explain all aspects.

Answer 43

Ellis explains why some people appear to be more vulnerable to depression than others as a result of their cognitions, the approach has a similar limitation to Beck’s in that it doesn’t easily explain anger.