PATH 07 - Depression explanations 2 (Part 2)

Question 1

What is the ABC model?

Answer 1

• Ellis proposed that depression occurs when activating event (A) triggers an irrational belief (B) which in turn produces a consequence (C), i.e. an emotional response like depression
• The key to this process is the irrational belief
• Irrational beliefs trigger conditions such as anxiety and depression

Question 2

Who proposed the ABC model?

Answer 2

Albert Ellis

Question 3

What is utopianism?

Answer 3

Thinking that life should always be fair

Question 4

What is musturbatory thinking/musturbation?

Answer 4

Thinking that certain ideas or assumptions must be true in order for an individual to be happy

Question 5

What is catastrophising?

Answer 5

• A cognitive distortion that prompts people to jump to the worst possible conclusion, usually with very limited information or objective reason to despair
• When thing’s don’t happen as planned, it’s considered a disaster

Question 6

What does the A in the ABC model represent?

Answer 6

A - Activating event

• Ellis focused on situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered by external events
• According to Ellis we get depressed when we experience negative events and these trigger irrational beliefs

Question 7

What does the B in the ABC model represent?

Answer 7

B - Beliefs
- Ellis identified a range of irrational beliefs
- These beliefs include: musturbatory thinking, utopianism and catastrophising

Question 8

What does the C in the ABC model represent?

Answer 8

C - Consequences

• When an activating even triggers irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences
• For example, if a person believes that they must always succeed and then fails at something this can trigger depression

Question 9

How did Ellis define irrational beliefs?

Answer 9

Defined irrational beliefs, not as illogical or unrealistic thoughts, but as any thoughts that interfere with us being happy and free from pain

Question 10

What are the three types of irrational beliefs?

Answer 10

• Musturbatory thinking/’musturbation’ => e.g. I must always succeed, I must di what my parents say
• Utopianism => thinking that life should always be fair
• I-can’t-stand-it-it is/catastrophising => e.g. if things don’t happen as planned, it’s a disaster

Question 11

What are the strengths of the ABC model?

Answer 11

It has real world applications

Question 12

What are the real world applications of the ABC model?

Answer 12

• One strength of Ellis’s ABC model is its real-world application in the psychological treatment of depression
• Ellis’s approach to cognitive therapy is called rational emotive behaviour therapy or REBT for short
• The idea of REBT is that by vigorously arguing with a depressed person the therapist can alter the irrational beliefs that are making them unhappy
• There is some evidence to support the idea that REBT can both change negative beliefs and relieve the symptoms of depression (David et al. 2018)
• This means that REBT has real-world value

Question 13

What are the limitations of the ABC model?

Answer 13

• It only explains depression and not endogenous depression
• Ethical issues

Question 14

How does the ABC model not explain endogenous depression?

Answer 14

• One limitation of Ellis’s ABC model of depression is that it only explains reactive depression and not endogenous depression
• There seems to be no doubt that depression is often triggered by life events - what Ellis would call ‘activating events’
• Such cases are sometimes called reactive depression
• How we respond to negative life events also seems to be at least partly the result of our beliefs
• However, many cases of depression are not traceable to life events, and it is not obvious what leads the person to become depressed at a particular time
• This type of depression is sometimes called endogenous depression
• Ellis’s ABC model is less useful for explaining endogenous depression
• This means that Ellis’s model can only explain some cases of depression and is therefore only a partial explanation

Question 15

What are the ethical issues of the ABC model?

Answer 15

• The ABC model of depression is controversial because it locates responsibility for depression purely with the depressed person
• Critics say this is effectively blaming the depressed person, which would be unfair
• On the other hand, provided it is used appropriately and sensitively, the application of the ABC model in REBT (discussed on next spread) does appear to make at least some depressed people achieve more resilience and feel better