Depression

Question 1

Behavioural Characteristics of Depression (3)

Answer 1

Change in activity levels
Disruption to sleep
Disruption to eating behaviour

Question 2

Change in activity levels

Answer 2

a lack
of energy and withdrawal from
activities once enjoyed

Question 3

Disruption to sleep

Answer 3

sleep may
reduce (insomnia) or may
increase (hypersomnia)

Question 4

Disruption to eating behaviour

Answer 4

increased appetite leading to
weight gain, or decreased
appetite leading to weight loss.

Question 5

Cognitive Characteristics of Depression (3)

Answer 5

Poor levels of concentration
Negative schema
Black and white thinking

Question 6

Poor levels of concentration

Answer 6

the sufferer may find themselves
unable to stick with a task as
they usually would or make
straightforward decisions, this
can interfere with the individuals
work.

Question 7

Negative schema

Answer 7

If someone has a negative
‘schema’, they will interpret all
information in a negative way,
ignoring the positives.

Question 8

Black and white thinking

Answer 8

viewing an
unfortunate situation as a
absolute disaster.

Question 9

Emotional Characteristics of Depression (2)

Answer 9

Lowered mood
Anger

Question 10

Lowered mood

Answer 10

often
experiencing feeling ‘sad’ ‘empty’
and ‘worthless’ ‘numb’

Question 11

anger

Answer 11

Sometimes individuals
experience anger directed
towards others or the self.

Question 12

Beck’s negative triad

Answer 12

Consistent negative
thinking can make a person vulnerable to depression.
Due to faulty information processing
where people ignore all the positives within a situation and instead attend to all the negative aspects.
This is referred to as “black and white thinking”.
Beck proposed the NEGATIVE TRIAD to explain this. He
suggested that there are three kinds of negative thinking that make someone vulnerable to depression.

Question 13

What did Beck propose?

Answer 13

Negative triad

Question 14

What are the three kinds of negative thinking?

Answer 14

About yourself
Future
The world

Question 15

What can consistent negative thinking do?

Answer 15

Make a person vulnerable to depression

Question 16

What does faulty information processing do?

Answer 16

People ignore all positives and only focus on the negative

Question 17

Ellis’s ABC Model

Answer 17

irrational thoughts interfere with us being happy and free of pain.
Ellis suggests that there is an ACTIVATING EVENT (A) – This is an external event such as the loss
of a job (1) that can trigger irrational BELIEFS (B). Ellis identified a range of irrational beliefs that are
triggered; for example, a belief that we must always achieve perfection (musterbation) and a belief that
life should be fair (utopianism). (2) When an activating event triggers these irrational beliefs there are
then emotional and behaviour CONSEQUENCES(C) such as depression. (3)

Question 18

What is the activating event?

Answer 18

An external event that can trigger irrational beliefs

Question 19

What is a belief that we must always achieve perfection?

Answer 19

Musterbation

Question 20

What is musterbation?

Answer 20

a belief that we must always achieve perfection

Question 21

What is a belief that life should be fair?

Answer 21

Utopianism

Question 22

What is utopianism?

Answer 22

a belief that life should be fair

Question 23

What happens when an activating event triggers irrational beliefs?

Answer 23

There are emotional and behavioural consequences such as depression

Question 24

RTS the cognitive explanation for depression was conducted by who>

Answer 24

Cohen et al

Question 25

What did Cohen et al do?

Answer 25

He tracked the development of 473 adolescents, regularly measuring cognitive vulnerability

Question 26

How many adolescents did Cohen et al track?

Answer 26

473

Question 27

What did Cohen et al measure in the adolescents?

Answer 27

Cognitive vulnerability

Question 28

What did Cohen et al find?

Answer 28

It was found that showing cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression in their life

Question 29

What did cognitive vulnerability predict?

Answer 29

Later depression in life

Question 30

What did the findings of the research into the cognitive explanation for depression lead to?

Answer 30

Practical applications

Question 31

What has the theory, that depression is caused by negative and irrational thought processing led to?

Answer 31

The development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Question 32

What has CBT been found to be effective in?

Answer 32

Treating depression

Question 33

How does CBT help clients?

Answer 33

helping clients to identify, challenge and change irrational/negative thoughts to rational/positive ones, via disputing

Question 34

What is a weakness in the cognitive approach in explaining depression?

Answer 34

Cause and effect cannot be established in the research

Question 35

Why can't cause and effect be established in research for the cognitive approach explaining depression?

Answer 35

Whilst negative/irrational thoughts can be linked to depression it cannot be firmly concluded whether negative/irrational thoughts cause depression or if they are a consequence of it

Question 36

What is CBT?

Answer 36

CBT is a method for treating mental health disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques from the cognitive viewpoint therefore CBT is overall a cognitive treatment.

Question 37

What is the cognitive aim in CBT?

Answer 37

the client and therapist will work together to identify irrational or negative thoughts that cause depression in a client. These irrational or negative thoughts will then be challenged to turn them to more rational and positive thinking.

Question 38

What is the behaviour aim in CBT?

Answer 38

CBT then involves working to change negative and irrational thoughts and finally put more effective behaviours into place.

Question 39

What is empirical disputing?

Answer 39

the therapist will ask for evidence to support the irrational/negative thought.

Question 40

What is an example of the therapist asking for evidence to support the irrational/negative thought?

Answer 40

For example, “where is the proof that nobody likes you?” One way the therapist may do this, is to get the client to complete homework and to keep a diary to test the reality of their beliefs. For example, they may ask the client to record whenever anybody is nice to them

Question 41

What will the therapist do in future sessions with the homework of the patient?

Answer 41

the therapist can use this record of their homework to challenge the clients belief that ‘nobody likes them’ and prove their statements are incorrect.

Question 42

What is behavioural activation?

Answer 42

It is used to change a client’s behaviour such as encouraging the depressed individual to be more active. This includes ensuring the client engages in activities that they once enjoyed, this will help improve the person’s mood and reduce the negative thoughts.

Question 43

Who did research to support the effectiveness of CBT?

Answer 43

March

Question 44

What did March do in his study?

Answer 44

He studied adolescents with depression and found that 81% of their symptoms had significantly improved after CBT and 86% had improved if CBT was combined with antidepressants.

Question 45

What percentage of adolescents with depression had significantly improved symptoms after CBT?

Answer 45

81%

Question 46

If adolescents with depression and had CBT along with antidepressants, which percentage had improved symptoms?

Answer 46

86%

Question 47

What is a limitation of CBT?

Answer 47

It requires motivation and commitment from patients to attend sessions over a period of time; and to complete their homework, for example keeping a diary, and engaging in activities they once enjoyed.

Question 48

Why is it an issue that CBT requires motivation and commitment from the patient?

Answer 48

Individuals with depression often lack motivation, this may reduce the effectiveness of CBT as a treatment for depression, and they might stop attending sessions

Question 49

What is a second limitation of CBT, which isn't it requiring motivation

Answer 49

High relapse rates

Question 50

Although CBT is effective in tackling symptoms of depression, what are there concerns about?

Answer 50

There are concerns over how long the benefits last

Question 51

What did Shehzad Ali et al do in his study?

Answer 51

assessed depression in 439 clients every month for 12 months following a course of CBT.

Question 52

How many clients did Shehzad Ali study?

Answer 52

439

Question 53

How often and for how long did Shehzad Ali study the 439 adolescents for?

Answer 53

Every month for 12 months

Question 54

What percentage of adolescents relapsed within a year of completing CBT?

Answer 54

53%