Depression

• What are the categories for depression?

  • Depression: low mood that is long-term and affects your daily life
  • Major depressive disorder: severe but short-term
  • Persistent depressive disorder: long-term/recurring
  • Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder: childhood temper tantrums
  • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: disruption to mood prior to/during menstruation
• What are the characteristics of depression?

  Behaviour, Emotional and Cognitive

  
• What are the 2 cognitive explanations of depression?

  • Beck's explanation (3 parts)
  • Ellis' explanation (2 parts)
• What are the 2 parts of Beck's explanation?

  • Faulty information processing
  • Negative self-schemas
  • Negative triad
• What is Faulty information processing in Beck's explanation?

  Cognitive thoughts are key characteristics of depression

  • Mental filter (only paying attention to certain things)
  • Jumping to conclusions (mind reading and fortune telling)
  • Magnification and minimisation (blowing things out of proportion or making them seem less important)
• What is Negative self-schemas in Beck's explanation?

  Things that you believe of yourself

  • Negative experience at childhood (e.g. rejection)
  • Creates negative schemas (e.g. nobody will ever like me)
  • Negative schemas activated in a new situation (e.g. new friends won’t accept you)
• What is Negative triad in Beck's explanation?

  Negative schemes about three different parts

  • The self (e.g. I’m not good enough)
  • The world (e.g. nobody loves me)
  • The future (e.g. I will never date anyone again)
• What are the 2 parts of Ellis' explanation?

  • ABC model
  • 3 masturbatory beliefs
• What is the ABC model of Ellis' explanation?

  • Activating event – event that triggers the cycle
  • Irrational belief – thought process that is irrational
  • Unhealthy emotional consequence – unhealthy emotion caused by the irrational belief
• What is the 3 masturbatory beliefs of Ellis' explanation?


  • I must be approved by people I find important
  • I must do well, or I am worthless
  • The world must give me happiness, or I will die
• What is a strength of the cognitive explanations of depression?

  Personalised to everyone - most inclusive
• What is a strength of the cognitive explanations of depression?

  Holistic - focuses on multiple factors of someone's life

  • Childhood, beliefs, schemas
• What is a limitation of the cognitive explanations of depression?

  Testability - inferences

  • Inferences are educated guesses, which means the explanation is subjective
• What is a limitation of the cognitive explanations of depression?

  Testability - correlational (no cause + effect)

  • We know there is a relationship between negative thinking and depression, but it might not be the causes
• What is a limitation of the cognitive explanations of depression?

  Client blame

  • Irrational beliefs are blamed on the client, which makes it a very negative viewpoint
• What are the treatments for depression - CBT?

  • Looks into what you think (cognitive aspects) and what you do (behavioural aspects)
  • Talking session which investigates your goals vs your current situation
  • Teaches you coping skills
  • May be set homework to practice your coping strategies

  
• What are Ellis' treatment - 3 types of disputing?

  • Logical: does it make sense?
  • Empirical: is it consistent with reality?
  • Pragmatic: is the belief helping?
• What is a strength of CBT?

  No side effects

  • Unlike anti-depressants (which causes nausea)
• What is a strength of CBT?

  Supporting evidence - March et al

  • March et al examined 327 adolescents with depression that had CBT, and found 81% of patients have been improved
• What is the counter argument for 'supporting evidence' of CBT?

  The biological treatment anti-depressants have been proven effective, and works best alongside of CBT (86%)
• What is a limitation of CBT?


  Requires motivation/effort

  • Depressed patients may not engage with CBT
• What is a limitation of CBT?


  Not generalisable/applicable to everyone

  • CBT emphasizes on role of cognitions as the primary cause of depression, but for most people it may be the activating event