Psychopathology- Depression

Question 1

What is beck’s 1967 negative triad?

Answer 1

Three forms of negative thinking that are typical of individuals with depression: negative thoughts about the self,, the world and the future

Question 2

what is unipolar/major depression?

Answer 2

involves several depressive symptoms (extremely low mood)

Question 3

what is bipolar/manic depression?

Answer 3

involves several depressive and also manic symptoms (alternating between periods of extremely low mood with extremely euphoric/irritable mood)

Question 4

Behavioural symptoms of unipolar depression:

Answer 4

• loss of energy
• social impairment
• weight changes
• poor personal hygiene
• sleep pattern disturbance
• decrease in sexual activity

Question 5

emotional symptoms of depression:

Answer 5

• loss of enthusiasm (core symptom)
• depressed mood (core symptom)
• worthlessness

core symptoms- use in 4 markers

Question 6

cognitive symptoms of unipolar depression:

Answer 6

• negative schema: irrational view of self
• poor concentration
• thoughts of death
• poor memory

Question 7

behavioural symptoms of bipolar depression:

Answer 7

• high energy levels
• reckless behaviour
• talkative

Question 8

emotional symptoms of bipolar depression:

Answer 8

• elevated mood states
• irritability
• lack of guilt

Question 9

cognitive symptoms of bipolar depression:

Answer 9

-irrational thought processes: may have very extreme thought processes and do and think things that are not considered to be appropriate

Question 10

what does becks cognitive explanation of depression consist of?

Answer 10

1. cognitive bias
2. negative self-schemas
3. the negative triad

Question 11

how does beck believe that people become depressed?

Answer 11

because the world is seen negatively through negative schemas which dominate thinking, these thoughts arise automatically and unconsciously

Question 12

how might schemas develop?

Answer 12

arise in childhood and adolescence when unrealistic demands are placed on them and when others are critical of them

Question 13

examples of negative schemas:

Answer 13

• ineptness schemas: makes depressives expect to fail
• self-blame schemas: makes depressives feel responsible for all misfortunes
• negative self-evaluation schemas: constantly remind depressives of their worthlessness

Question 14

cognitive biases are flaws in reasoning, give 5 examples of types of irrational thinking:

Answer 14

• catastrophising: wildly exaggerating negative events
• polarised thinking: seeing everything in extremes; “black or white”
• overgeneralisation: drawing sweeping conclusions based on a single event
• selective abstraction: focus on only the negatives and overlook the positives
• minimisation and maximisation: minimise successes, maximise limitations/ failures

Question 15

What did Ellis (1962) believe?

Answer 15

that depressives mistakenly blame external events for their unhappiness. their interpretation of these events is to blame for their distress

Question 16

what does the ellis (1962) ABC model stand for?

Answer 16

A- activating event
B- belief
C- consequences

Question 17

what does ellis suggest about the activating event?

Answer 17

it’s not the activating event itself that causes the consequence, but rather the irrational beliefs about it

Question 18

describe research by Stice and Schyner (2010)- provided by credible cognitive neuroscientific evidence

Answer 18

supports the idea that poor cognitive control may indicate vulnerability to depression. FMRI scanning was used, they found that depressive symptoms are associsated with impaired engagement of the lateral pre-frontal correct and parietal brain regions during cognitive control of emotions. suggests there’s a relationship between depression and cognitive control

Question 19

limitation of stice and schyner:

Answer 19

• doesn’t help to identify the root cause of the depression, no practical applications as can only see how the brain responds to tasks given rather than everyday situation
• cannot establish cause and effect: cannot be certain impaired cognitive functioning is causing the depression as it could be that having depression results in impaired cognitive functioning (research is often correlations and only establishes links between impaired cognitive functioning and experience of depressive symptoms)

Question 20

does the ABC model explanation have practical applications?

Answer 20

leads to effective treatment through cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT still neglects the root cause of the disorder, the main focus is still upon how the individual mentally processed their experience. fails to deal with the actual trauma the individual has experienced. also socially sensitive

Question 21

what is reductionism and how does it relate to an explanation of depression?

Answer 21

reductionism refers to breaking down a complex behaviour into constituent parts and explaining it as it’s simplest level. cognitive explanations demonstrate machine reductionism. Ellis’ ABC model follows an information processing approach where there is an activating event (input), beliefs (processing) and consequences (output)

Question 22

how is the cognitive explanation also a scientific explanation?

Answer 22

• it’s based on scientific principles that permit objective testing. it also acknowledges a range of aspects such as genes, development and early experiences, and how this can lead to depression
• uses objective measures that provide empirical evidence of physiological structure
• cannot directly observe mental processes must still rely upon inference to suggest cognitive faults that are involved like negative schemas and biases

Question 23

is Ellis’ cognitive explanation a sufficient explanation of depression?

Answer 23

not all depression follow activating events. reactive depression arises without an activating event or an obvious cases. therefore Ellis’ explanation only applies to certain forms of depression and is therefore a partial explanation