introducing and explaining depression

Question 1

DSM-V

Answer 1

*Categories of depression
* All forms of depression and depressive disorder are characterised by some form of change in mood.

-Major Depressive Disorder
-Persistent depressive disorder-long term

Question 2

behavioural characteristics of depression

Answer 2

-Reduced/increased activity levels
-Disruption to sleep(more/less)and eating behaviour(more/less)
-aggression and self-harm

Question 3

emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 3

-lowered mood
-anger
-lowered self-esteem

Question 4

cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 4

-negative emotions are associated with negative thoughts

-poor concentration
-attending to and dwelling on the negative
-negative view of the world and expect things to turn out badly

Question 5

Becks cognitive theory of depression

Answer 5

*Some people’s cognitions make them more vulnerable to depression
*Three parts to this cognitive vulnerability
-Faulty Information processing
* Negative self-schema
*The negative triad

Question 6

faulty information processing

Answer 6

• When depressed people tend to focus on the negative of a situation.
• Blow very small things out of all proportion
• Think very black and white
  -Overgeneralisations (make sweeping conclusion based on one incident) and catastrophising (think setback is disaster)

Question 7

negative self schema

Answer 7

package of information about ourself- how you see yourself and how you think others see you

Question 8

negative triad

Answer 8

• A person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves because of three types of negative thinking that occur, these occur automatically and regardless of the reality of the situation.
• Negative views of the world
• Negative views of the future
• Negative views of the self

Question 9

Ellis’s ABC model

Answer 9

• Ellis (1962)
• Conditions such as depression and anxiety are the result of irrational thoughts
• Activating Event
• We experience negative events which trigger beliefs
• Belief
• Can be rational or irrational.

*Consequence
Rational beliefs lead to healthy emotions whereas irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions.

Question 10

limitation-alternative explanations

Answer 10

A biological approach to understanding mental disorders suggests that genes and neurotransmitters may cause depression.
For example research supports the role of low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in depressed people and has also found that a gene related to this is 10x more common in people with depression. (Zhang et al. 2005).
The success of drug therapies, for treating depression suggests that neurotransmitters do play an important role. These drugs act on the serotonin system by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin thereby increasing the amount of the neurotransmitters in the system.
Given the existence of so many different explanations, at the very least a diathesis-stress approach might be advisable. This suggests that individuals with a genetic vulnerability for depression are more prone to the effects of living in a negative environment, which then leads to negative irrational thinking.

Question 11

strength-practical applications

Answer 11

One strength of the cognitive explanation for depression is its application to therapy.
Cognitive explanations have been used to develop effective treatments for depression, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) which was developed from Ellis’s ABC model.
These therapies attempt to identify and challenge negative and irrational thoughts and are consistently found to be the most effective treatment for depression, especially when used in conjunction with drug therapies (Cuijpers, 2013).
The success of the treatments at alleviating symptoms of depression by challenging irrational thinking, suggests such thoughts had a role in the depression in the first place offering support to the cognitive explanation of depression