Psychopathology: The cognitive approach to explaining depression Flashcards
What is the cognitive approach?
This approach focuses on how our ‘mental processes’ (e.g. Thoughts, perceptions, attention) affect behaviour.
The cognitive approach assumes that behaviours are controlled by thoughts and beliefs. So, irrational/faulty thoughts and beliefs cause ‘abnormal’/depressed behaviours.
What did Beck believe about depression?
- That some people were more vulnerable to depression than others.
- Their cognitions create this vulnerability.
What were the 3 parts of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression?
- Faulty info processing
- Negative self-schemas
- Negative triad
What is negative schema according to Beck?
Schema is a cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information in the brain. A schema helps an individual to make sense of new information.
Depressed people have acquired a negative schema during childhood – a tendency to adopt a negative view of the world. This may be caused by a variety of factors, including parental and/ or projection and criticisms by teachers. The negative schemas are activated whenever the person encounters a new situation that resembles the original conditions in which the schema was learned. Negative schemas lead to a systematic cognitive bias in thinking. For example, individuals overgeneralise, a sweeping conclusion regarding self-worth on the basis of one small piece of negative feedback.
Explain the negative triad in Beck’s cognitive theory of depression.
- Negative view of the world: ‘the world is such as cold hard place’
- Negative view of the future: ‘there isn’t much chance that the economy will get any better
- Negative view of self: ‘i am a failure’ =low self-esteem
When we are depressed this is the dysfunctional views that occur.
What did Ellis believe about depression?
- Results from irrational thoughts
- That interferes with happiness
- Depression happens through a trigger
What is the ABC model?
Ellis proposed that depression occurs when an activating event (A) triggers an irrational belief (B) which in turn produces a consequence (C) I.e. An emotional response such as depression. The key to this process is iterations belief.
What is musturbatory thinking according to Ellis?
The irrational belief is that certain things must be true for an individual to be happy. Therapy changes these musts. Ellis identified the 3 most important irrational beliefs:
- 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
What is the cognitive approach to treating depression?
cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
A03: The cognitive approach to explaining depression
+ Practical applications in therapy
+ support for the role of irrational thinking
- Blames the client rather than situational factors
- Reductionist
A03: Practical applications in therapy
The cognitive explanations presented here have both been applied to CBT. CBT is consistently found to be the best treatment for depression, especially when used in conjunction with drug treatments. The usefulness of CBT as a therapy to support the effectiveness of the cognitive approach. If depression is alleviated by challenging irrational thinking, then this suggests such thoughts had a role in the depression in the first place.
A03: Support for the role of irrational thinking
The view that depression is linked to irrational thinking is supported by research. Hammen and Krantz (1976) found that depressed Participants made more mistakes in logic when asked to interpret written material than did non-depressed participants. Bates et al. (1999) found that depressed participants were given negative automatic thought statements and became more and more depressed. This research supports that negative thinking leads to depression, although this link does not mean that negative thoughts cause depression. Instead, negative thinking may develop because of their depression.
A03: Blames the client rather than situational factors
The cognitive approach suggests that it’s the client who is responsible for their disorder. This placing of emphasis on the client is a good thing because it gives the client the power to change the way things are. However, this stance has limitations. It may lead to the client or therapist to overlook situational factors, for example not considering how life events or family problems may have contributed to the mental disorder. The strength of the cognitive approach, therefore, lies in its focus on the client’s mind and recovery, other aspects of the client’s environment and life may also need to be considered.
A03: Reductionist
The cognitive explanations of depression can be criticised for being reductionist: For example, the cognitive explanation states that if an individual thinks in a negative way/has negative automatic thoughts they are likely to develop disorders such as depression. This is a weakness because this theory of depression ignores the fact that biological research has indicated that depression can be down to low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin and therefore, the cognitive approach can be seen to be too simplistic.
