Explaining Depression Flashcards
What are two main types of depression?
Bipolar depression and unipolar depression
What is bipolar depression also known as?
Bipolar depression is also known as manic depression
What is unipolar depression?
When a person experiences a low mood that last for weeks/months and affects daily life.
It is an illness, occurs in cycles and has clinical symptoms
What is unipolar depression also known as?
Unipolar depression is also known as major depression
What is bipolar depression?
Bipolar depression is when a person swings between feeling very high + full of confidence to feeling extremely low, this lasts for several weeks
What approach explains depression?
The cognitive approach explain depression
What explanations states some people are cognitively vulnerable to depression?
Beck’s explanation (1967)
What are the three ways Beck explains cognitive vulnerability?
People being cognitively vulnerable by faulty information processing, negative self schema and the negative triad
What is the faulty information processing?
The person focuses on the negative aspects of a situation rather than the positives and makes small problems more serious than they really are
What is the negative self schema Beck describes in her explanation for depression?
The negative self schema is developed when the person interprets information about themselves negatively
What is the negative triad Beck described whilst explaining depression?
The negative triad is the negative view a person has of the world, the future and themselves
What does Beck state as an explanation for depression?
Beck states that some people are cognitively vulnerable to depression and it shows through faulty information processing, negative self schema and the negative triad
What explanation for depression involves the ABC model? What year was this model established?
Ellis’ explanation for depression in 1962
What does Ellis’s ABC model stand for?
A = activating event
B = beliefs
C = consequences
What does the A in the ABC model stand for and describe it?
The A in the ABC model stands for the activating event.
The model states irrational negative thoughts are triggered by an external event
What does the B in the ABC model stand for and describe it?
The B in the ABC model stands for beliefs.
The model states there is a holding of irrational beliefs, the person feels down when things do not go smoothly due to their unrealistic expectations of always being successful and perfect
What does the C in the ABC model stand for and describe it?
The C in the ABC model stand for consequences
The model states irrational beliefs have emotional and behavioural consequences
What is an example of a consequence (emotional/behavioural) caused by the irrational thoughts?
Example 1 (BEHAVIOUR): not getting out of bed in the morning
Example 2 (EMOTIONAL): consistent feelings of sadness/unmotivated
How many evaluations are there of the cognitive explanations of depression?
There are four evaluations
What is a strength of the cognitive explanation of depression? (Cohen et al (2019))
There is supportive evidence that suggests cognitive vulnerability does lead to vulnerability. Cohen et al (2019) tracked the development of 473 teenagers measuring their cognitive vulnerability and found that cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression.
What is a strength of Beck’s cognitive explanation of depression? (real world application)
Beck’s explanation has real world applications as by assessing cognitive vulnerability psychologists are allowed to identify those at risk of developing depression in the future and monitor them
What is a limitation of the cognitive explanation of depression? (characteristics)
The cognitive explanations cannot account for all the characteristics and symptoms of depression such as anger
What is a limitation of Ellis’s ABC model for the cognitive explanation for depression? (types of depression)
Ellis’s ABC model can be used to explain depression that has been triggered by a negative life event (reactive depression)
But cannot explain depression that has no links to life events, known as endogenous depression
