Depression

Question 1

Characteristics of depression

Answer 1

Behavioural: activity levels, disrupted sleep and eating, aggression and self harm

Emotional: lowered mood, low self esteem

Cognitive: poor concentration, dwelling on the negative

Question 2

Cognitive explanation of depression AO1

Answer 2

Focuses on how thinking shapes our behaviour: depression seen to be caused by negative and irrational thought processes

Question 3

Beck’s depression explanation AO1

Answer 3

Some are more vulnerable to depression than others.

-Faulty info processing: attend to negative aspects of situation and ignore positives
-negative self schemas: negative schema means we interpret info about ourselves in a negative way
-negative triad: negative thoughts about ourself, future and world are linked

Depressed people tend to become trapped in the vicious cycle of depression

Question 4

Beck AO3 (practical applications)

Answer 4

P- led to practical applications (including CBT, treatment of depression)

E- Therapists challenge the negative thoughts and encourage patients to test if they’re true

T- Therapies successfully used to treat people with depression. Economic implications…

Question 5

Beck AO3 (cause and effect)

Answer 5

P- Difficult to establish cause and effect

E- Difficult to know if neg thoughts cause depression or vice versa

T- causality cannot be established

Question 6

Ellis AO1

Answer 6

Irrational beliefs is the source of depression: it’s not what happens to someone it’s how they deal with it

ABC model
A=Activating event: irrational thoughts triggered by external events
B=Beliefs: can be rational or irrational
C=Consequence: rational beliefs=healthy response, irrational belief=unhealthy response and depression

Question 7

Ellis AO3 (practical applications)

Answer 7

P- Ellis’ theory has led to practical applications, including the treatment for depressing, CBT and REBT

E- The therapist will challenge irrational negative beliefs and hope to reduce the depression in the patient

T- These therapies have been successfully used to treat people with depression, providing further support to the cognitive explanation of depression. Also have economic implications…

Question 8

Ellis AO3 (client blame)

Answer 8

P- Ellis’ model blames the client rather than the situational factors.

E- This may lead the client or therapist to overlook situational factors, eg not considering how life events or family problems may be contributing to the depression

T- This means that Ellis’ model may not always be the most useful way of explaining depression

Question 9

Evaluation extra- Beck and Ellis

Answer 9

Both Beck and Ellis ignore other possible explanations of depression eg biological approach: genes and neurotransmitters may cause it

Success or drug therapies treating depression suggest neurotransmitters do play an important role; medication alters levels of specific neurotransmitters and reduces the symptoms

Diathesis stress model may be a more sophisticated approach, suggesting individuals with genetic vulnerability are more prone to the effects of negative environments, which then leads to negative irrational thinking