psychopathology 1.4

Question 1

how does Beck explain depression?

Answer 1

a vulnerability that can be caused by the person’s cognition and their negative schemas

Question 2

3 parts to cognitive vulnerability

Answer 2

faulty information processing

negative self schema

the negative triad

Question 3

characteristics of faulty information processing

Answer 3

ignores positives and focuses on negatives

blow small problems out of proportion

negative cognitive biases, they see themselves as worthless

Question 4

characteristics of negative self schema

Answer 4

depressed

interpret all info about themselves negatively

e.g. ineptness schema, believe they will fail

Question 5

what does the negative triad explain?

Answer 5

regardless of reality, due to cognitive biases and negative self schemas they have dysfunctional view of themselves

Question 6

3 elements of negative triad

Answer 6

negative view of self “i am useless”

negative view of world “everyone is against me”

negative view of future “i am never going to accomplish anything”

Question 7

strengths of Beck’s negative triad

Answer 7

personal life events are taken into account and are recognised as starting point for person’s depression

there is research support, they tracked 473 adolescents ensuring they measured their cognitive vulnerability regularly and found that these who had shown cognitive vulnerability predicted depression later on

real world application due to findings of both Beck and following psychologists it has allowed for psychologists and therapists to understand cognitive vulnerability and apply it in treatments such as CBT

Question 8

limitations of Beck’s negative triad

Answer 8

doesn’t explain symptoms of depression such as why different depressed people may experience different feelings e.g. extreme anger of hallucinations

not all irrational thoughts are irrational, one study found that depressed people had the ‘sadder but wiser effect’ where they gave more accurate estimates of the likelihood of disaster than those not depressed

Question 9

Ellis’ view of depression

Answer 9

suggested depression is caused by irrational thoughts and that rational thoughts cause good health

Question 9

what do irrational thoughts interfere with?

Answer 9

happiness

Question 10

irrational thoughts

Answer 10

not logical or realistic thoughts

Question 11

what does the A stand for in the ABC model?

Answer 11

activating event
negative event which triggers irrational thoughts e.g. losing job

Question 12

what does the B stand for in the ABC model?

Answer 12

beliefs

thoughts which person associates with event and why it happened

can be irrational e.g. i’m so useless i won’t get another job

can be rational e.g. i wanted a new job anyway

Question 13

what does the C stand for in the ABC model?

Answer 13

consequences

rational beliefs lead to healthy consequences e.g. new job searching

irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy consequences e.g. believing you will never get another job, leads to depression

Question 14

in Ellis’ ABC model what does the unhealthy consequence always lead to?

Answer 14

depression

Question 15

strengths of Ellis’ ABC model

Answer 15

REBT (form of CBT) used by Ellis following the ABC model has been successful in treating depression and changing thought patterns

lays responsibility with individual and allows them the power to change the way things are

Question 16

limitations of Ellis’ ABC model

Answer 16

not all irrational thoughts are irrational, one study found that depressed people had ‘sadder but wiser’ effect where they gave more accurate estimates of the likelihood of disaster than those not depressed

doesn’t explain all symptoms of depression, such as behaviours that differ e.g. extreme anger or exhaustion

gives responsibility completely to individual suffering with depression which could in turn be seen to blaming them

only accounts for reactive depression where the individual has an activating event but does not account for endogenous depression, when the depression isn’t traceable to life events

Question 17

cognitive behaviour therapy

Answer 17

talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave

most common psychological treatment

Question 18

is beck’s cognitive therapy the same as CBT?

Answer 18

Beck’s cognitive therapy (CT) focuses on the distortions and thought processes that can lead to negative behaviors

cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) takes this a step further, ensuring clients remove their cognitive distortions and automatic thoughts, along with changing their behaviors

Question 19

characteristics of CBT

Answer 19

client is encouraged to challenge irrational thoughts directly with help from therapist

clients are often set ‘homework’ to record positive events which can be used in the sessions to help them challenge their irrational thoughts

e.g. client might state ‘everyone hates me’ but record a social event they enjoyed therefore illogical to assume no one likes them

therapist can confront client with evidence to highlight their irrational thoughts or at least look for other reasons why

Question 20

what does REBT extend Ellis’ ABC model to?

Answer 20

ABCDE

D=dispute

E=effect

Question 21

main technique for REBT

Answer 21

identify and challenge irrational thoughts

e.g. client talks to therapist about the fact everyone hates them
REBT would challenge this thought and present a strong argument to dispute this idea

Question 22

therapist’s role in REBT

Answer 22

to break link between negative life effects and depression by changing the client’s irrational belief

Question 23

different types of arguments identified by Ellis

Answer 23

empirical

logical

Question 24

empirical argument

Answer 24

disputing if there if real evidence to support the irrational belief

Question 25

logical argument

Answer 25

disputing if negative effect follows logically from the facts

Question 26

strengths of cognitive approach to treating depression

Answer 26

CBT and REBT are quicker than other therapies, treatments usually last for 16 weeks and can be repeated if they are not successful the first time around

one study compared CBT to antidepressants and combination therapy when treating 327 depressed adolescents, after 36 weeks 81% of antidepressant group and 86% of combination group were significantly improved, showing CBT is as effective as antidepressants and even more so when used in combination with them

very effective in treating mild depression and stopping it progressing into severe depression

Question 27

limitations of cognitive approach to treating depression

Answer 27

criticised for blaming client as whole focus is on their irrational thoughts

some clients with severe depression are unable to motivate themselves with the hard work needed for engagement with CBT

not very good for clients who do not want to talk or express themselves or lack verbal skills

CBT when used to treat depression has high relapse rate, although it is effective there are concerns of how long benefits last

CBT can be therapist centered, ethical concerns as gives therapist power and client can become too dependent