the cognitive approach to explaining depression

Question 1

negative triad

Answer 1

beck proposed that there are three kinds of negative thinking that contribute to becoming depressed

• negative views of the world
• the future
• self

these negative views lead a person to interpret their experiences in a negative way and so make them more vulnerable to depression

Question 2

ABC model

Answer 2

Ellis proposed that good mental health is the result of rational thinking

to Ellis, conditions such as anxiety and depression result from irrational thoughts

Ellis defined irrational thoughts as any thoughts which interfere with us being happy/ free of pain

A - activating event - situations in which irrational thoughts are triggers by external events

B Beliefs - He called the belief that we must always succeed or achieve perfection ‘musterbation’ - belief that it is a major disaster when something does not go smoothly

Utopianism - belief that life is always meant to be fair

C- consequences - when activating events trigger irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences.

Question 3

Faulty information processing

Answer 3

when depressed people focus on the negative aspects of a situation

depressed people tend to think in ‘black and white’ something is either all good or all bad

Question 4

Negative self- schema

Answer 4

‘packages’ of ideas and information developed through experience. A mental framework for interpretation of sensory information

people use schema to interpret the world, so if a person ahs a negative self schema - they interpret all information about themselves in a negative way

Question 5

strength research support

Answer 5

strength of Beck’s cognitive model of depression is the existence of supporting research.

‘cog vulnerability’ refers to the ways of thinking that may predispose a person to becoming depressed e.g. faulty information processing , negative self schema and the cognitive triad.

In a review Clark and Beck concluded that not only were these cognitive vulnerabilities were more common in depressed people but they preceded the depression

confirmed in a more recent prospective study by Cohen - tracked development of 473 adolescents , regularity measuring cognitive vulnerability

it was found that showing cognitive vulnerably predicted later depression.

this shows that there is an association between cognitive vulnerability and depression

Question 6

Real world application

Answer 6

strength of beck’s cognitive model of depression is the application in screening and treatment for depression

Cohen - concluded that assessing cognitive vulnerability allows psychologists to screen young people , identifying those most at risk of developing depression in the future - and monitoring them.

Understanding cognitive vulnerability can also be applied to cbt. these work by altering the cognitions that make people vulnerable to depression

this means that an understanding of cognitive vulnerability is useful in more than one aspect of clinical practice

Question 7

evaluation extra

Answer 7

no doubt that depressed people show particular patterns of cognition and these can be seen before the onset of depression.

so it seems that beck’s suggestion of cognitive vulnerabilities is at least a partial explanation for depression

BUT - there are some aspects to depression that are not well explained by cognitive explanations - e.g. some depressed people feel extreme anger / hallucinations and delusions

Question 8

Strength of Ellis’s model

Answer 8

A strength = real world application in the psychological treatment of depression

Ellis’s approach to treating depression REBT is having an argument with the depressed person and therapist - to alter irrational beliefs.

some evidence to support REBT changing negative beliefs and relieve the symptoms of depression - (David et al)

This means that REBT has real world value

Question 9

Limitation of ABC model

Answer 9

A limitation of Ellis’s ABC model of depression is that it only explains reactive depression not endogenous depression

clear that depression is triggered by life events - ‘activating events’ = this is reactive depression

But - depression is not always traceable to life events and it is not obvious what leads the person to be depressed = endogenous depression

Ellis’s ABC model = less useful for explaining endogenous depression. this means that the ABC model is only a partial explanation for depression

Question 10

Extra - Limitation:

Answer 10

ABC model is controversial as it locates responsibility for depression just with the depressed person.

Critics say that blaming the depressed person would be unfair.

But, if it is used appropriately and sensitively - application of the ABC model in REBT does appear to make some depressed people achieve more resilience and feel better