Explaining Depression Flashcards
What are the 2 explanations of depression?
1) Becks cognitive theory of depression
2) Ellis’s ABC model
Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
American psychiatrist Aaron Beck (1967) suggested a cognitive approach to explaining why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others. In particular it is a person’s cognitions that create this vulnerability, i.e. the way they think.
Beck suggested 3 parts to this cognitive vulnerability:
1) Faulty information processing
2) Negative self-schemas
3) The negative triad
1) Faulty information processing
When depressed, we attend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. For example, if I was depressed and won £1 million on the lottery, I might focus on the fact that the previous week, someone had won £10 million rather than focus on the positive of all I could do with £1 million. We also tend to blow small problems out of proportion and think in ‘black and white’ terms.
2) Negative self-schemas
A schema is a ‘package’ of ideas and information developed through experience. They act as a mental framework for the interpretation of sensory information. A self-schema is the package of information we have about ourselves. We use schemas to interpret the world, so if we have a negative self-schema, we interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way.
3) The negative triad
A person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves because of three types of negative thinking that occur automatically, regardless of the reality of what is happening at the time. These three elements are called the negative triad. When we are depressed, negative thoughts about the world, the future and oneself often come to us.
a) Negative view of the world - an example would be ‘the world is a cold hard place’. This creates the impression that there is no hope anywhere.
b) Negative view of the future - an example would be ‘there isn’t much chance that the economy will really get better’. Such thoughts reduce any hopefulness and enhance depression.
c) Negative view of the self - for example, I might think ‘I am a failure’. such thoughts enhance any existing depressive feelings because they confirm the existing emotions of low self-esteem.
Strength - Beck
Beck’s explanation of depression has practical applications in CBT. It can identify and challenge aspects of depression in the negative triad. This is a strength because it is applicable to real life and translates well into therapy. Furthermore, it helps to benefit the economy. If less people are suffering from depression, they will feel more inclined to attend work, thus preventing financial loss within an economy.
Strength - Beck
A strength of Beck’s theory of depression is that it is supported by research. Grazioli and Terry assessed 65 women of their cognitive vulnerability, and found that women they deemed to be more vulnerable were more likely to suffer with postnatal depression. This shows that cognitions can be seen before depression emerges, which supports Becks theory and makes the negative triad more credible. However, the sample is only containing 65 pregnant women, so there is gender bias.
Weakness - Beck
Beck’s explanation of depression is criticised for being an incomplete explanation. It does not explain all aspects of depression. Patients will often experience multiple emotions with depression, from anger to sadness. Becks theory does not take into account those extreme emotions. Sufferers may get hallucinations, or bizarre beliefs caused by other delusions like Cotard Syndrome. Therefore, Becks theory cannot explain all cases of depression, only focusing on one aspect of it.
Ellis’s ABC model
Another American psychiatrist, Albert Ellis (1962) suggested a different cognitive explanation of depression. He proposed that good mental health is the result of rational thinking, defined as thinking in ways that allow people to be happy and free of pain. To Ellis, conditions like anxiety and depression (poor mental health) result from irrational thoughts. Ellis defined irrational thoughts, not as illogical or unrealistic thoughts, but as any thoughts that interfere with us being happy and free of pain. Ellis used the ABC model to explain how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state. It is the irrational beliefs which trigger the response, not the event itself.
A - Activating event
Whereas Beck’s emphasis was on automatic thoughts, Ellis focused on situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered by external events. According to Ellis, we get depressed when we experience negative events and these trigger irrational beliefs. Events like failing an important test or ending a relationship might trigger irrational beliefs.
B - Beliefs
Ellis identified a range of irrational beliefs. He called the belief that we must always succeed or achieve perfection ‘musturbation’. ‘I-can’t-stand-it-itis’ is the belief that it is a major disaster whenever something does not go smoothly. Utopianism is the belief that life is always meant to be fair.
C - Consequences
When an activating event triggers irrational beliefs, there are emotional and behavioural consequences. For example, if you believe you must always succeed and then fail at something, this can trigger depression.
Strength - Ellis
One strength of the cognitive explanation for depression is its application to therapy. The cognitive ideas have been used to develop effective treatments for depression, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (supported by Lipsky et al) and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), which was developed from Ellis’s ABC model. These therapies attempt to identify and challenge negative, irrational thoughts and have been successfully used to treat people with depression, providing further support to the cognitive explanation of depression
Strength - Ellis
There is research evidence which supports the cognitive explanation of depression. Boury et al. (2001) found that patients with depression were more likely to misinterpret information negatively (cognitive bias) and feel hopeless about their future (negative triad), which supports different components of Beck’s theory and the idea that cognitions are involved in depression.
