Beck took a cognitive approach to explaining why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others
It is a person's cognitions that create this vulnerability i.e. the way we think
Faulty information processing
When depressed people attend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignorepositives
E.g. winning £1 million and focusing on the fact that someone won £10 million last week
Depressed people may tend towards 'black and white thinking' where something is either all bad or all good
Negative self-schema
Schema is a 'package' of information and ideas developed through experience and act as a mental framework for the interpretation of sensory information
Self-schema is the package people have of themselves
People with negative self-schema interpret all information about themselves in a negative way
The negative triad
Negative view of the world - e.g. 'the world is a cold hard place'. This creates the impression that there is no hope anywhere
Negative view of the future - e.g. 'I will never get a girlfriend'. Such thoughts reduce any hopefulness and enhance depression
Negative view of the self - e.g. 'I am a failure'. Such thoughts enhance any existing depressive feelings because they confirm the existing low self-esteem
