Psychopathology-depression

Question 1

what is depression

Answer 1

a mental disorder which affects a persons mood

Question 2

what are the two emotional symptoms of depression

Answer 2

-low mood
-loss of pleasure

Question 3

what are the two cognitive symptoms of depression

Answer 3

-irrational negative beliefs
-difficulty concentrating

Question 4

what are the 3 behavioural symptoms of depression

Answer 4

-change in appetite
-change in sleep pattern
-social withdrawal

Question 5

what is the criteria for someone to be diagnosed with major depression

Answer 5

-must experience at least 5 symptoms within 2 weeks
-at least one must be an emotional symptom

Question 6

what are the 2 models to explain depression called

Answer 6

-Ellis ABC model
-Becks cognitive triad

Question 7

what did Ellis believe caused depression

Answer 7

the way in which people interpreted events

Question 8

explain the ABC model

Answer 8

A-activating event-the event as to which there is a reaction
B-belief-the belief as to why the situation occured
C-consequences-feelings and behaviour the belief now causes

Question 9

what is an example of an irrational belief

Answer 9

musterbation-refers to the behaviour of clients who are inflexible and absolutist in there way of thinking and that they must not fail

Question 10

what did Beck believe caused depression

Answer 10

negative irrational belief about the self, world and future

Question 11

according to beck what are the 2 factors that cause irrational negative beliefs

Answer 11

-negative schemas
-cognitive bias

Question 12

what is a negative schema

Answer 12

during childhood when authority figures place demands that are unrealistic and hard to achieve this provides a negative framework to view events pesimistically

Question 13

what is a negative cognitive bias

Answer 13

only paying attention to the negative information which is then assimilated into their negative self schema

Question 14

supporting evidence for the cognitive explanation for depression

Answer 14

-Boury
-Koster

Question 15

what did Boury find

Answer 15

negative thoughts were monitored using Becks depression inventory. Finding that people with depression misinterpret facts and feelings in a negative fashion and feel hopeless about the future

Question 16

What did Koster find

Answer 16

partipants sat Infront of a computer and a positive, negative or neutral work flashed up on the screen. A square appeared on the screen and participants clicked a button to indicate which side of the screen it appeared on
Results-after being presented with a negative word partipants with depression took longer than those without to press the button
This effect was not observed with positive or neutral words
Supports the idea that people with depression focus on the negatives and have a negative cognitive bias

Question 17

what is a useful appplication to the cognitive approach to depression

Answer 17

can treat depression using CBT which was developed from Ellis ABC model to challenge irrational negative beliefs.
link to economic multiplier

Question 18

what is a weakness of the cognitive approach to depression

Answer 18

cognitive explanation is correlation not causal don’t know if negative irrational thoughts cause depression or vice versa

Question 19

what is evidence against the cognitive approach to depression

Answer 19

alloy and abrahamson-asked participants with and without depression how much control they had over a flashing light
Results-partipants with major depression estimated more accurately than those without
This suggests not all people with depression have irrational beliefs

Question 20

what is an alternative explanation for depression

Answer 20

imbalance of neurotransmitters eg-seratonin
Mcguffin-concordance rate for depression was 46% for monozygotic twins but for dizygotic twins was 20%
This suggests genetic factors contribute to major depression

Question 21

what is the treatment of depression

Answer 21

CBT
Aims to remove negative beliefs that cause depression

Question 22

what are the 4 steps involved in CBT

Answer 22

1. Therapist helps the patients to identify irrational negative beliefs
2. Therapist challenged the irrational negative beliefs
3. Patient is set HMW to gather evidence to test there hypothesis
   4.Therapist and patient evaluate evidence in the next session

Question 23

what is some supporting evidence for the use of CBT

Answer 23

Cuijpers
carried out a meta-analysis of participants receiving CBT vs Control group not receiving CBT. Partipants who received CBT noticed a significant improvement in symptoms compared to control group.
HOWEVER he found the effectiveness of CBT varies between individuals

Question 24

what is some evidence to suggest CBT is better than drugs

Answer 24

David- Studied 170 patients suffering from major depressive disorder and found that patients treated with fourteen weeks of REBT had better treatment outcomes than those treated with the drug fluoxetine six months after treatment

Question 25

what are some limitations to CBT

Answer 25

-may not be effective for everyone as there are individual differences in patients experience of depression
Cuijpers found the effectiveness of CBT varies between individuals

-CBT may not be as effective as other treatments eg-Antidepressants eg-SSRIs which focus on targeting the biological causes of depression eg-low levels of serotonin

Question 26

what is some research suggesting that using drugs in combinatation with CBT is the most effective

Answer 26

keller found recovery rate for those
only taking drugs-55%
only CBT-52%
drugs and CBT-85%
shows taking both together is the most effective

Question 27

why might CBT not work for severely depressed patients

Answer 27

CBT requires motivation so patients with severe depression wont want to participate