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THE COGNITIVE APPROACH TO EXPLAINING DEPRESSION - Coggle Diagram
THE COGNITIVE APPROACH TO EXPLAINING DEPRESSION
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BECK'S COGNITIVE THEORY OF DEPRESSION
Faulty information processing
When depressed people attend to the negative aspects of a situation + ignore positives, they also tend to blow small problems out of proportion and think in 'black and white' terms
Aaron Beck (1967) suggested that some people are more prone to depression because of faulty Information processing, i.e thinking in a flawed way
Depressed people have negative self-schemas
A schema is a 'package' of ideas + information developed through experience.
We use schemas to interpret the world, so if a person. has a negative self-schema they interpret all information about themselves in a negative way
The negative triad
Negative views of the world, e.g., 'everybody hates me because I am worthless'
Negative view of the self, e.g., 'I am worthless + a failure' and this negatively impacts upon self-esteem
Negative view of the future, e.g., 'I will never be good at anything because everyone hates me'
ELLIS'S ABC MODEL
A - ACTIVATING EVENT
Albert Ellis suggested that depression arises from irrational thoughts
According to Ellis depression occurs when we experience negative events, e.g., failing an important test or ending a relationship
C- CONSEQUENCES
When an activating event triggers an irrational beliefs there are emotional + behavioural consequences
For example, if you believe you must always succeed then you fail at something, the consequence is depression
B - BELIEFS
Negative events trigger irrational beliefs
E.g., Activating event = get sacked from work then the Belief = 'they've always had it in for me or 'I am useless'
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BECK'S NEGATIVE TRIAD
GOOD SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
They found that those women judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression
These cognitions can be seen before depression develops, suggesting that Beck may be right about cognition causing depression, at least in some cases
Grazioli + Terry (2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth
THE THEORY HAS PRACTICAL APPLICATION AS A THERAPY
Beck's cognitive explanation forms the basis of cognitive therapy (CBT)
The components of the negative triad can be easily identified + challenged in CBT. This means a patient can test whether the elements of the negative triad are true
This is a strength of the explanation because it translates well into a successful therapy
THIS THEORY DOES NOT EXPLAIN ALL ASPECTS OF DEPRESSION
Some depression patients suffer hallucinaions and bizarre beliefs, or suffer from Cotard Syndrome, the delusion that they are zombies (Jarrett 2013)
Beck's theory cannot always explain all causes of depression, and just focuses on one aspect of the disorder
Depression is a complex disorder. Some depressed patients are deeply angry and Beck cannot easily explain this extreme emotion
ELLIS' ABC MODEL
IT HAS PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CBT
If the therapist can change the belief, then the consequence can also be changed + depression can be removed
Therapists can use Ellis' model to challenge irrational thoughts and change their beliefs
ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION
Therefore, there must be a biological + cognitive explanation for depression
Biological explanation - low levels of serotonin can cause depression + many anti depressants that have changed their biology have reduced their symptoms of depression
IT IS A PARTIAL EXPLANATION OF DEPRESSION
Psychologists call this reactive depression + see it as different from the kind of depression that arises without an obvious cause
This means that Ellis' explanation only applies to some kinds of depression
There is no doubt that some cases of depression follow activating events
It can't explain the high levels of aggression/hallucinations