The cognitive approach to explaining depression Flashcards
What is the cognitive approach?
Focuses on how our mental processes affect behaviour
What is faulty information processing?
Beck’s negative triad
- Depressed people attend to negatives of a situation
- See the world with black and white thinking
What is a negative self schema?
Beck’s negative triad
- ‘Schema’= packagae of ideas developed through experience
- Act as a mental framework for sensory information interpretation
- Self schema- package of info about the self
- Interpret all information about themselves in a negative way
What is Beck’s negative triad?
People develop a dysfunctional view of themselves due to 3 types of negative thinking:
1) Negative view of the world (no hope anywhere)
2) Negative view of the future (reduce hopefulness and enhance depression)
3) Negative view of the self (enchance depression, confirm aspects of low self-esteem)
What are the main strengths of Beck’s negative triad?
- Research support
- Real world application
What is the main limitation of Beck’s negative triad?
- A partial explanation
Strength-
I- There is research to support the negative triad
Beck
D- ‘Cognitive vulnerability’ refers to ways of thinking that may predispose a person to becoming depressed. Clarke and Beck- cognitive vulnerabilities are more common in depressed people. Cohen et al- tracked development of 473 adolescents- measure cog vulnerability and found it predicted depression
E- Shows an association between cognitive vulnerability and depression
Strength:
I- There is real world application to support the negative triad
Beck
D- Applications in screening and treatment for depression. Cohen et al concluded assessing CV allows psychologists to screen young people, and identify those at risk of depression. Applied to CBT- alter cognition linked to being vulnerable to depression
E- Means an understaning of CV is useful in clinical practice
Limitation:
I- The negative triad is only a partial explanation
Beck
D- There are additional aspects of depression that are not well explained, including: extreme anger, hallucinations, delusions
E- Cv is a poor explanation for ALL depressive phenomena
What did Ellis propose?
- Good mental health is the result of rational thinking
- Anxiety and depression result from irrational thoughts
- Developed the ABC model
What is Ellis’s ABC model?
A- Activating event: external events with trigger irrational thoughts (e.g: failing an exam)
B- Beliefs: belief to achieve perfection (musturbation), a fail is a major disastor (I-can’t-stand-it-itis), life is always meant to be fair (utopianism)
C- Consequences: emotional and behavioural, often depression, due to irrational beliefs
What is the main strength of the ABC model?
- Real world application
What are the main limitations of the ABC model?
- Reactive and endogenous depression
- Ethical issues
Strength:
I= There is real world applicaton to support the ABC model
Ellis
D- Application in the psychological treatment of depression. REBT involves vigorously arguing with a depressed person, to counter their irrational beliefs. David et al- there is evidence of REBT changing negative beliefs and relieving depressive symptoms
E- REBT has real world value
Limitation:
I- The ABC model only explains reactive depression, not endogenous depression
D- Depression is triggered by life events (reactive depression), and the ways we respond to these life events is partly the result of out beliefs. But, many depressive cases are not traceable to life events, and the cause is unclear (endogenous depression)
E- Means the ABC model is a partial explanation
