Explaining depression Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is depression
A mood disorder where an individual feels sad and/or lacks interest in their usual activities.
What are behaviour characteristics of depression
Change in activity levels - There is a shift in activity levels and
tiredness.
Disruption of sleep and eating behaviour – some sleep much more whereas others find it difficult to sleep. Some people have reduced appetite whereas others eat more than usual.
Aggression and self-harm –
Sufferers are often irritable, and in some cases they
can become verbally or
physically aggressive. Can also lead to physical aggression directed at the self. This includes self-harm and suicide attempts
What are emotional characteristics of depression
Lowered mood - sadness or
loss of interest and pleasure in
normal activities.
Anger – directed towards others or turned inwards on the self. Depression may arise from
feeling of being hurt and wishing
to retaliate.
Lowered self-esteem –
depressed people often feel
worthless, hopeless and/or
experience low self-esteem
What are cognitive characteristics of depression
Attending to and dwelling on the negative - paying more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignoring the positives. Sufferers also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones.
Absolutist thinking -
‘black and white thinking’ where the individual believes that everything is either really good or really bad.
Poor concentration -
being unable to stick with a task or finding it hard to make decisions that are straightforward.
What are the 2 cognitive approaches of explaining depression
Ellis’ ABC model
Beck’s negative triad
Outline Ellis’ ABD model
believed that depression results from irrational thoughts which
interfere with us being happy and free of pain
A refers to activating event e.g. getting fired at work.
B is the beliefwhich may be rational or irrational4 (e.g. the’ company was overstaffed’ or ‘I was sacked because they’ve always had it in
for me’)
C is the consequence – rational beliefs lead to healthy emotions whereas irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions
- Mustabatory thinking
What is Mustabatory thinking
Source of irrational beliefs lies in mustabartory thinking
thinking that certain ideas or
assumptions must be true for an individual to be happy.
What are Ellis’ three most important irrational beliefs
- I must be approved or accepted by people I find important.
- I must do well or very well, or I am worthless.
- The world must give me happiness, or I will die.
An individual who holds such assumptions is bound to be, at the very least, disappointed, at
worst, depressed
What is a strength of Ellis’ ABC model
practical applications
What is a limitation of Ellis’ ABC model
Low explanatory power
Evaluate practical applications as a strength of Ellis’ ABC model
P: Led to a successful application such as the treatment
know as Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT).
E: This form of CBT focuses disputing the individual’s irrational thoughts and replacing
them with effective, rational beliefs.
E: This is a strength because REBT greatly reduces the symptoms of depression and is
better than anti-depressant drugs at preventing relapse.
L: Therefore, as the treatment is based on Ellis’ ‘ABC’ model as is effective, the cognitive
explanation for depression must be at least partially valid.
Evaluate low explanatory power as a limitation of Ellis’ ABC model
P: Cannot explain all formss of depression and therefore has lower explanatory power.
E: Although some cases of depression follow activating events, called reactive depression, other types of depression arise without any
environmental trigger, for example due to a biochemical imbalance.
E: This is a limitation because Ellis’ explanation only explains some kinds of depression.
It suggests that Ellis’ ABC model provides an incomplete
explanation of depression and therefore may not be valid.
Outline Becks cognitive theory of depression
Argued that people with depression experienced automatic negative thoughts.
Their first thoughts about themselves or any event that are always very negative.
Ppl often do not even know they are having these thoughts, if they do they think they are just reality
Outline Becks negative triad theory
Beck believed that depressed ppls thinking is biased towards negative interpretations of the world and they lack a perceived sense of control.
They acquired a negative schema during childhood.
What is a negative schema
A tendency to adopt a negative view of the world
Caused by many factors, including parental and/or peer rejection and criticisms by teachers.
Negative schemas are activated when they encounter a new situation that resembles the original conditions in which these schemas were learned.
They lead to systematic cognitive biases in thinking
Describe Becks negative triad
Negative schemas and cognitive biases maintain the negative triad, a pessimistic and irrational view of three key elements in a person’s belief system
The self
The world
The further
What is a strength of Becks theory of depression
practical applications
What is a limitation of Becks theory of depression
low explanatory power
Evaluate practical applications as a strength of Becks cognitive theory of depression
P: Led to a successful treatment for depression.
E: Beck’s form of CBT reduces the symptoms of depression and is better than anti- depressant drugs at preventing relapse.
E: Strength because CBT greatly reduces the symptoms of depression and the treatment is based on Beck’s cognitive theory of depression therefore Beck’s cognitive theory of depression must be at least partially valid.
Evaluate low explanatory power as a limitation of Becks cognitive theory of depression
P: Cannot explain all types of depression and therefore has lower explanatory power.
E: Although some cases of depression are clearly linked to cognitions there are other cases of depression were people are very angry or experience hallucinations and delusions. These more complex symptoms are much harder to explain using Beck’s theory.
E: Limitation because Beck’s explanation only explains some kinds of depression and it is therefore only a partial explanation of depression/less explanatory power. This suggests that Beck’s cognitive theory provides an incomplete explanation of depression and therefore may not be valid
What are strengths of the cognitive approach in explaining depressiont
Supported by research
Practcal application
What is a limitation of the cognitive approach in explaining depressiont
Over-simplistic
Evaluate research support as a strength of the cognitive approach to explaining depression
P: Supported by evidence
E: Hammen and Krantz (1976) found that depressed participants made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material than non-depressed participants.
E: This is a strength because these cognitions can be seen before depression develops, further supporting Beck’s idea that cognition causes depression.
L: Therefore, this is strong evidence for the explanation of depression and gives the explanation validity.
Evaluate practical applications as a strength of the cognitive approach to explaining depression
P: Led to a successful practical application.
E: The cognitive approach has produced a successful treatment for depression called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
This greatly reduces the symptoms of depression and is better than anti-depressant drugs at preventing relapse.
E: Strength because, as the treatment is based on the assumptions of the approach, the cognitive approach must be at least partially valid.
