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Cognitive etiology of MDD - Coggle Diagram
Cognitive etiology of MDD
Theory
How an individual reacts to multiple
life events influences the
development of MDD
Aaron Beck:
in 1967 Beck found 3 mechanisms
that are responsible for depression
Cognitive Triad
Three main negative thinking that are
common in a deppressed individual.
Negative view on self
Negative view of the future
Negative view on the world
Example:
Self: I am useless
The world: Everybody hates me
The Future: I will never get
anywhere because I am like this
All three components affect
normal cognitive behaviour which
leads to impairment in normal day
to day functioning.
Studies
Martin Selingman (1974)
Aim
: To prove cognitive explanation of MDD called
learned helplessness
Participants
: Dogs were used in this experiment
Procedure
: The dog was placed in a electric cage where they could escape when shocked, 2nd time the dog was put in a leash to avoid them from moving away from the electrical shock, 3rd time the dog did try to escape despite not being restricted by a leash
Results
: Even if there was a way out, the dog did not try to escape due to learned helplessness. This explains why an individual gives up trying to escape the abusive
environment despite having ways out. This is due to the fact that they have learned that their solutions are helpless and makes no difference
Abramson, Selingman & Teasdale (1978)
Aim: Introduced the cognitive version of learned
helplessness in the term of atrributional proccesses
Conclusion: This new theory leads to the conclusion that
The individual is not able to change things in a positive light
New insight: In this theory, the effects of a negative event
was not considered relevant enough to develop depression.
Abramson suggested that internal, stable and global causes
were the most relevant to developing depression than external,
unstable and specific causes.
More on the theory: three dimensions proposed
Locus: internal cause (personal) or external (outside situation)
Stability: Stable & permanent or unstable and transient
Global or Specific: Pertains to the whole person or just a particular feature.
Alloy et al. (1999)
Aim
: To see if a cognitive proccess of an individual
can affect their likeliness to develop MDD
Participants
: Young Americans in their early 20’s
Procedure
: The researcher followed the thinking styles of the participants for 6 years and their thinking style was tested and they were devided into a positive thinking group and negative thinking group.
Results
: After the 6 years of observation, researchers found only 1% of the positive group developed MDD VS the negative group. This indicated that there is a correlation between the mindset of a person and their likeliness to develop MDD.
Additional Studies
Joiner et al (1996)
Patterns of cognition are not enough of a reason to develop depression, there must be an environmental stimuli response
Nolen-Hoeksema (2000)
Rumination with the combination of negative cognitive styles is correlated to the duration of a depressive episode and seems to be more consistent than duration
Farb et al (2011)
They found that higher rumination was greatly correlated to relapsing patients having more activity in the medial prefrontal gyrus.
Errors in Logic
Systemic negative biases are
exaggerated by the cognitive triad.
Beck believed that this
way of thinking is automatic
which results to a person
to developing deppression
despite postive evidence
is being presented
Systemic
negative bias’
Personalization: They precieve negative
situations as their own fault
Dichotomous Thinking: Everything
is seen as black and white
Magnification and Minimisation: The problem
is heavily focused on while the solution is
ignored
Selective Abstraction: Focused on
the worst parts of a situation.
Arbitary Inference: Negative conclusions
despite absence of certain infromation
Due to negative sef schemas
individuals become more likely to
make logical mistakes where they
tend to focus on the negatives more
than relevant positives.
Negative Self Schema
Experiences that contribute
to negative self schema
Familial abuse, rejection,
overprotection, criticism
Bullying at school or
any social setting
Death of loved one
A negative self schema does not always
predispose a person to deppression.
A stressful life event is the activation
to this negative thinking later in life.
Aaron Beck: suggests that individuals prone to
depression develop a negative self-schema