Explaining Depression

Question 1

What does the ABC stand for in Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 1

A - activating event
B - belief
C - consequence

Question 2

What is Beck’s negative triad?

Answer 2

• negative views of the self
• negative views of the world
• negative views of the future

Question 3

What did Beck believe?

Answer 3

Some people’s cognitions make them more vulnerable to depression.

Question 4

What is faulty information processing?

Answer 4

Depressed people focus on negatives of situation (and ignore positives).
Often they overgeneralise and catastrophise as well.

Question 5

What is a negative self schema?

Answer 5

A self schema describes how you see yourself and how you think others view you.
Depressed people interpret info. about themselves negatively.

Question 6

Strength: practical applications

Answer 6

• Beck’s cognitive explanations forms basis of cognitive behavioural therapy
• CBT is the best treatment for depression, especially when used in conjunction with drug treatments
• eg depression is alleviated by challenging irrational thoughts, it suggest that these irrational thoughts had a role in depression in the 1st place

Question 7

Limitation: can be explained by other approaches

Answer 7

• The biological approach shows that depressed people have low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin
• Also, prescribed SSRIs work very effectively for many depressed people, which indicates a link with neurotransmitters
• This cannot be explained by the cognitive explanation
• Use a diathesis stress model when explaining depression.