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Cognitive Approach on Depression - Coggle Diagram
Cognitive Approach on
Depression
Theoretical Assumptions
Information processing influences emotions and behavior
Information processing influences emotions and behavior
Thoughts can cause and maintain depression
Aaron Beck (1967)
Core Theory
Depression caused by negative automatic thoughts
Thinking becomes persistent and self-reinforcing
Cognitive Triad
Negative view of self
Worthless, helpless, inadequate
Negative view of the world
World seen as overwhelming and unfair
Negative view of the future
Hopelessness, expectation of failure
Negative Self-Schema
Enduring negative beliefs about oneself
Developed through early adverse experiences
Parental rejection or criticism
Loss or trauma
Bullying or social exclusion
Activated later by stressful life events
Errors in Logic
Dichotomous thinking
black-and-white thinking
Selective abstraction
focusing only on negatives
Personalization
blaming oneself for negative events
Magnification / minimization
exaggerating failures, downplaying success
Arbitrary inference
negative conclusions without evidence
Supporting Research
Alloy et al. (1999)
Longitudinal study (6 years)
Participants grouped by cognitive style
Results
17% of negative thinkers developed depression
1% of positive thinkers developed depression
Supports link between cognition and depression
Martin Seligman (1974)
Learned Helplessness Theory
Leads to passivity and resignation
Depression develops when individuals believe they lack control
Animal Study
Later failed to escape when escape was possible
Dogs exposed to inescapable shocks
Showed depression-like symptoms:
Lethargy
Passivity
Appetite Loss
Reformulated Learned Helplessness
Abramson, Seligman & Teasdale (1978)
Added attributional style
Depressive Attributional Style
Internal – “It’s my fault”
Stable – “It will never change”
Global – “It affects everything”
Increases vulnerability to depression
Other Cognitive Research
Nolen-Hoeksema (2000)
Rumination predicts onset and duration
Joiner et al. (1996)
Cognition and environmental stress needed
Farb et al. (2011)
Relapse linked to medial prefrontal cortex activity
Associated with rumination
Advantages
Supported by research studies showing that negative thinking is linked to depression
Useful in therapy, as cognitive-based treatments like CBT which focuses on changing negative thoughts
Disadvantages
Many studies only show correlation, so it is unclear if negative thinking causes depression or is a result of it
Focuses mainly on thinking and does not fully consider biological factors such as genetics or brain chemistry