One Non-Biological Explanation for Uni Polar Depression

Question 1

what is the non-biological explanation for UPD ?

Answer 1

cognitive explanation

Question 2

what does the cognitive explanation claim ?

Answer 2

faulty/irrational thinking is a symptom of depression but also may be the cause, and becomes a downwards spiral - e.g. if a person believes everyone dislikes them, they may develop negative feelings about themselves which in turn reinforce their perception that everyone dislikes them

Question 3

what does Beck’s cognitive explanation focus and when what study did it derive from ?

Answer 3

it focuses on faulty cognitions - developed in Beck 1967

Question 4

what is Beck’s Negative Triad ?

Answer 4

depressed people make three types of cognitive error (faulty cognitions), pessimistic/irrational thoughts

Question 5

what are the three types of faulty cognitions in beck’s negative triad ?

Answer 5

1) the self
2) the future
3) the world

Question 6

what is meant by ‘the self’ ?

Answer 6

they believe they are worthless, unattractive, a failure, etc (it conforms their feelings of low self-esteem)

Question 7

what is meant by ‘the future’ ?

Answer 7

they view the future in an unavoidably negative ways (e.g. ‘I will never get a job…be happy’)

Question 8

what is meant by ‘the world’ ?

Answer 8

they perceive the world (people, situations, events) as hopeless

Question 9

where does beck claim faulty cognitions stem from ?

Answer 9

stem from childhood (criticisms and rejection), unrealistic expectation and experience of loss

Question 10

what does Ellis’ ABC theory focus on and what study was it developed from ?

Answer 10

focuses on irrational thinking and was developed from Ellis 1962

Question 11

what is ellis’ thoughts on rational and irrational thinking ?

Answer 11

‘rational’ thinking = thinking that allows us to be happy and free of (psychological) pain, anything else is irrational

Question 12

what does ‘A’ stand for and what does it involve ?

Answer 12

A - activating event

• irrational thoughts are triggered by situations
• depression occurs when negative external events (e.g. failing an exam) activate irrational thoughts and beliefs

Question 13

what does the ‘B’ stand for ?

Answer 13

Beliefs

• person’s irrational beliefs about the event cause depression, not the event of itself
• the beliefs are mostly self-defeating, so the person interprets the event in the most negative way

Question 14

what are the three types of irrational beliefs that stem from events (because ellis claims the event itself does not cause depression) ?

Answer 14

1) musterbation (‘I must be perfect’, ‘I must be successful’)
2) utopianism (‘life should always be fair’)
3) I-can’t-stand-it-itis (something not going perfectly is a major disaster)

Question 15

what does the ‘C’ stand for ?

Answer 15

consequences

• irrational beliefs have emotional and behavioural consequences
• e.g. someone who believes life should always be fair may become depressed when things do not turn out that way, or someone who believes they ‘must always be successful’ may respond badly to failure

Question 16

what is a strength of beck’s theory ?

Answer 16

it is supported by research

- evans et al. (2005)

Question 17

what did evans et al. (2005) do ?

Answer 17

measured the self-beliefs of 12,003 women who were 18 weeks pregnant

Question 18

what were the findings of evans et al. (2005) ?

Answer 18

those with the most negative beliefs were more likely to eventually become depressed than women with positive self-beliefs. a negative self-schema is a risk factor for depression in women

Question 19

what does evans et al. (2005) suggest ?

Answer 19

suggests these cognitions occurred before the onset of depression, supporting beck’s view that negative beliefs cause the disorder

Question 20

what is a competing argument to the strength of beck’s theory ?

Answer 20

• other studies do not support causation
• Dohr et al. (1989)
• Brown (2007)

Question 21

what did Dohr et al. (1989) find ?

Answer 21

found that negative self-beliefs expressed during a depressive episode usually become positive afterwards

Question 22

what did Brown (2007) find ?

Answer 22

there is much evidence that negative thinking accompanies depression but little evidence it causes depression

Question 23

what is a weakness of Beck and Ellis’ explanations ?

Answer 23

they are incomplete
- depression is a complex disorder - not all of the symptoms are experienced by everyone, and there are individual differences in severity - some people with depression experience extreme symptoms like hallucinations and delusions

Question 24

what does the limitation of beck and ellis’ models mean ?

Answer 24

it means it makes it hard to see how the cognitive triad and dysfunctional beliefs can account for the variety of experiences of depression

Question 25

what is a weakness of Beck’s theory ?

Answer 25

it has validity issues

- Eysenck (1997)

Question 26

what does Eysenck (1997) argue (part of weakness for beck’s theory)

Answer 26

he argued that the theory does not explain depression, mainly because there is no independent way of establishing the existence of negative schemas

Question 27

what does Eysenck (1997)’s research mean for beck’s theory ?

Answer 27

means the theory lacks predictive validity because it does not identify risk factors for depression and cannot predict who is likely to become depressed

Question 28

what does Eysenck (1997) suggest ?

Answer 28

suggests that Beck’s theory may be a better explanation for how depressive episodes are triggered and maintained over time rather than how depression is caused

Question 29

what is an application of both theories (beck’s theory/model and Ellis’ theory/model) ?

Answer 29

both theories have led to effective treatments for depression
- lipsky et al. (1980)

Question 30

what does lipsky et al. (1980) support ?

Answer 30

supports Ellis’ view that challenging the irrational beliefs of depressed people can improve their symptoms

Question 31

what does lipsky et al. (1980) and other research show ?

Answer 31

shows that cognitive techniques successfully treat depression, implying faulty information processing may be at the root of the disorder