Depression

Question 1

what are the two behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 1

• they suffer from disruption to sleep such as reduced sleep or insomnia or an increased sleep hypersomnia.
• they may have a disrupted appetite which may increase or decrease
• they may have disrupted activity as reduced levels of energy. can be so bad can’t get out of bed
• self-harm

Question 2

what are emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 2

they may have a low mood with daily lethargic or sad moods.
they may also experience anger
they will also experience low self-esteem

Question 3

what are cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 3

• they may have poor concentration such as being unable to stick with a task as they usually would.
• they may also have absolutist thinking which means that black and white thinking such as if a bad experience it is a disaster
• they may also dwell on the negative

Question 4

what is beck’s negative triad in explaining depression?

Answer 4

there are 3 elements of the negative triad:

• negative views about the world
• negative views about the future
• negative views about oneself

Question 5

what are examples of faulty info processing according to beck seen in depression?

Answer 5

• arbitrary interference- drawing conclusions with insufficient evidence such as he’s not texting me back he must be cheating.
• selective abstraction-focussing on only the negative- i ruined the whole meal as someone needs more salt
• overgeneralisation- overall sweeping conclusions drawn on basis of single event.

Question 6

what do depressed people have according to beck and what childhood events can lead to this?

Answer 6

they have a negative self-schema and so interpret all info of the world as negative.
this can be due to childhood experiences such as:
-loss of a parent
-criticism from a parent or teacher
-physical and emotional abuse

Question 7

what is Ellis’s ABC model?

Answer 7

Activating event- according to ellis depression occurs when we experience a negative event which leads to irrational thought that arises from depression
Beliefs- negative events trigger irrational thoughts in those with depression. this leads to musturbatory thinking which is the beliefs we must always succeed such as i have to do well.
Consequences- when an activating event triggers irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences such as if believe must succeed and then fail will lead to depression.

Question 8

what is supporting evidence for beck’s theory which is supporting his theory?

Answer 8

a study that supports beck is Grazioli and Terry who assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after the birth. they found that the women judged to be high in cognitive vulnerability where more likely to suffer from post-natal depression. these cognitions can be seen before depression develops, suggesting that beck may be right about cognition causing depression. however, this was only a small sample size and so is may not be applicable to rest of society

Question 9

what is another strength of beck’s theory?

Answer 9

it has a practical application as a therapy. beck’s cognitive explanations forms the basis of CBT. the components of the negative triad can be easily identified and challenged in CBT. this means the patient can test whether the elements of the negative triad are true. this is a strength of the application because it translates well into a successful therapy.

Question 10

what is a limitation of Ellis’s model?

Answer 10

it is only a partial explanation of depression. while many cases of depression follow activating events, psychologists call this reactive depression and see it as a different from the kind of depression that arises without an activating event, this means that ellis’s explanation only applies to some kinds of depression.

Question 11

what is a limitation and general issue of all cognitive explanations for depression?

Answer 11

it is that cognitions may not cause all aspects of depression. cognitive explanations are closely tied to the concept of cognitive primacy, the idea that emotions are influenced by your thoughts. this is sometimes the case but not always. however other theories of depression such as anxiety and distress are stored like physical energy to emerge any time after their causal event. this suggests that cognitions are not always root of depression and suggests that cognitive theories don’t explain all aspect of depression.

Question 12

what are the 3 steps of CBT?

Answer 12

1. spot and modify the negative thoughts these can be overgeneralisation, selective abstraction, arbitrary interference, personalisation.
2. reality testing by challenging the negative thoughts from the triad.
3. problem solving.

Question 13

what do the patient and therapist have to do in CBT?

Answer 13

they have to have a therapeutic relationship where they work together to clarify patient’s problem and they identify where they might be negative thoughts that will benefit from challenge. it has to be a warm and personal relationship.

Question 14

what is the patient known as during CBT?

Answer 14

it is the patient as scientist. this is where patients are encouraged to test the reality of their irrational beliefs. for example, they might be set homework eg write down every time someone is nice to them so when they are in sessions and they say no one likes them the therapist can produce the evidence to challenge their beliefs. they may also have to do behavioural activating which is doing something active to boost their mood such as joining the gym.

Question 15

what is Ellis’s REBT?

Answer 15

REBT extends Ellis’s ABC model to ABCDE model:
D is for dispute or challenge irrational thoughts
E is for effect which is see a beneficial effect.

Question 16

what are the 4 ways that you challenge irrational beliefs in REBT?

Answer 16

-empirical, is there any evidence to support
-Logical, does the thought follow the facts
-pragmatic, how does this belief help you
-alternative- what could you tell yourself instead.
an example of challenging irrational belief is if a person says how unlucky their life is the therapist would call this utopianism and challenge it.

Question 17

what is behavioural activation?

Answer 17

as individuals become depressed, they increasingly avoid difficult situations and become isolated. the goal of this is to work with depressed individuals to gradually decrease their isolation by increasing their engagement in activities such as exercise, going out for dinner.

Question 18

what is a strength of CBT?

Answer 18

there is evidence to support the effectiveness of CBT for depression. for example, March et al compared the effects of CBT with antidepressants and the combination of the two in 327 depressed adolescents. after 36 weeks, 81% of the CBT group were effective and a combination of two were 86% effective. CBT is just as effective as antidepressants. CBT is very effective and should first choice of treatment in NHS.

Question 19

what is a limitation of CBT?

Answer 19

it may only be applicable to some people with depression and that the most severe case of depression may not be motivated to take on cognitive work required for CBT. this may mean that they can’t pay attention in one session, in this case it may be possible to treat patients with antidepressants and commence CBT when they are more alert and motivated. this is a limitation of CBT because can’t be sole treatment for all cases of depression.

Question 20

what is another limitation of CBT?

Answer 20

there is an argument that success is only due to therapist-patient relationship. Rosenzweig suggested that the difference between various methods of psychotherapy such as CBT and systematic desensitisation may be small. all psychotherapy need a good relationship between therapist and patient and the quality of this relationship determines success rather than particular techniques. the opportunity to talk and listen could be what matters most.

Question 21

overemphasis on cognition