Treating Depression: Cognitive Approach

Question 1

what is the cognitive treatment for depression

Answer 1

cognitive behavioural therapy

Question 2

what is meant by CBT

Answer 2

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a cogntive therapy which assumes that, If depression is the result of irrational thinking it can therefore be treated by challenging these irrational thoughts and replacing them with more rational ones

it uses the ABCDE model:
- activating event
- belief
- consequence
- dispute
- effect

Question 3

outline the process of CBT

Answer 3

1) client is made aware that it is not events themselves that make them anxious or negative, but how they think about the events. This can be achieved by teaching them the ‘ABCDE Model’

2) the client is required to gather evidence of situations in which negative thinking occurs by keeping a diary as part of a homework assignment so they can be targeted.
The therapist can help teach the client to write down the contents of A-B-C after experiencing a difficult situation.
For example, an ‘Activating Event’ (A)
such as a nearby group of people laughing leads to a ‘Belief’ (B) which might be irrational (e.g. ‘they are laughing at me’). This belief then leads to a ‘Consequence’
(C) and it is argued that irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions (eg depression).

3) they can then be encouraged to ‘Dispute” (D) their irrational belief (B) by writing down challenging beliefs
about the event (e.g. they are laughing at their own joke).
Practising this will eventually allow the person to do this themselves naturally and in their heads (as opposed to on paper) when a difficult situation next arises.

4) By thinking about these more rational, disputing beliefs, the client should feel the
‘Effect (E) of challenging irrational thoughts and become less anxious which will have a positive effect on their behaviour

Question 4

Evaluation: CBT
- STRENGTHS

Answer 4

P: effective in treating depression
E: CBT has generally done well in outcome studies
E: eg, March et al (2007) found CBT was just as effective as drugs in treating depression (both were effective for 81%) of patients)
L: seems to work in most cases of depression

P: CBT does not have side effects
E: unlike biological treatments for depression such as antidepressant drugs, psychological therapies like CBT do not have the unintended negative effects drugs can have
E: eg, antidepressant drugs have been known to cause indigestion, blurred vision and loss of sex drive
L: CBT is not only as effective as drugs but also has less of the drawbacks of drug therapy

P: CBT can be seen as beneficial for the economy
E: estimated that mental health issues cost the English economy around £22.5 billion a year and any effective treatments for mental illness could help to reduce this
E: eg, CBT might reduce unnecessary healthcare costs on treatments for depression that do not work and reduce the number of days people have off work sick so improving productivity
L: CBT may not only have a positive impact on sufferers lives, but also have economic benefits too

Question 5

Evaluation: CBT
- LIMITATIONS

Answer 5

P: impractical
E: requires patients to engage with hard work in order for it to work which is more disruptive to patients’ lives than some other therapies and it may be a problem for depressed patients
E: eg, drugs allow patients to reduce their symptoms without having to engage with any such hard work
L: many doctors and patients favour drugs for these reasons
E: time consuming - at least 6 weeks

P: may be seen to ‘blame “ the patient
E: unlike other therapies such as drugs which assume mental illness, like depression, is caused by neurotransmitter imbalances that are out of a person’s conscious control, CBT suggests that depression is a result of a person’s thinking which they can change
E: eg, it suggests to the patient that they can change the way they think
L: may be unhelpful to place a large burden of blame on a person already prone to negative thinking