P - The cognitive approach to explaining depression Flashcards
What are the 2 cognitive approaches to explaining depression?
Ellis’ ABC model (1962)
Beck’s negative triad (1967)
What is the ABC model?
A cognitive approach to understanding mental disorder, focusing on the effect of irrational beliefs on emotions.
What is the negative triad?
A cognitive approach to understanding depression, focusing on how negative expectations (schema) about the self, world and future lead to depression.
What is a schema?
A cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information in the brain. A schema helps an individual to make sense of new information.
What model did Ellis come up with and to explain what?
ABC model to explain depression.
What did Ellis propose that the key to mental disorders lays in?
Irrational beliefs.
Explain Ellis’ ABC model
A refers to an activating event (e.g. you get fired at work).
B is the belief, which may be rational or irrational (e.g. ‘The company was overstaffed’ or ‘I was sacked because they’ve always had it in for me’).
C is the consequence - rational beliefs lead to healthy emotions (e.g. acceptance) whereas irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions (e.g. depression).
What is the A in Ellis’ ABC model?
A refers to an activating event (e.g. you get fired at work).
What is the B in Ellis’ ABC model?
B is the belief, which may be rational or irrational (e.g. ‘The company was overstaffed’ or ‘I was sacked because they’ve always had it in for me’).
What is the C in Ellis’ ABC model?
C is the consequence - rational beliefs lead to healthy emotions (e.g. acceptance) whereas irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions (e.g. depression).
What is musturbatory thinking?
Thinking that certain ideas or assumptions must be true in order for an individual to be happy.
What are the 3 most important irrational beliefs identified by Ellis?
I must be approved of or accepted by people I find important.
I must do well or very well, or I am worthless.
The world must give me happiness, or I will die.
Draw Ellis’ ABC model of a healthy mind/person
Activating event (A)
|
Rational belief (B)
|
Healthy emotion (C)Draw Ellis’ ABC model of an unhealthy/depressed mind/person
Activating event (A)
|
Irrational belief (B)
|
Unhealthy emotion (C)When are negative schemas activated in Beck’s model of depression?
Whenever the person encounters a new situation that resembles the original conditions in which these schemas were learned.
What do negative schemas lead to in Beck’s model of depression?
Systematic cognitive biases in thinking.
What maintains the negative triad?
Negative schemas and cognitive biases.
What are the three elements in a person’s belief system (the three factors in Beck’s triad model)?
The self - e.g. I am just plain undesirable, what is there to like? I’m unattractive and seem to bore everyone.
The world (life experiences) - e.g. I can understand why people don’t like me. They would all prefer someone else’s company. Even my boyfriend left me.
The future - e.g. I am always going to be on my own, there is nothing that is going to change this.
What does Beck’s negative triad model look like?
Three factors in a triangle - the self, the world and the future - which all affect each other and in the centre there is the core schema which affects and is affected by these three factors.
