CA exp depression

• Evidence to support Beck + fault info processing- Grazioli and Terry

  • Assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression pre/post birth
  • Women judged to have high cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression
• Extra support for Grazioli and Terry

  • Clark and Beck reviewed research on cog vulnerability
  • Concluded there was solid support for all these cognitive vulnerability factors
  • These cognitions can be seen before depression develops, suggesting Beck may be correct in cognition causing depression
• What does Beck's cognitive theory suggest about depression?

  • A person's cognitions create a vulnerability to depression (e.g. the way they think)
  • There are 3 parts that contribute to vulnerability: faulty information processing, negative self schemas and the negative triad
• What is faulty information processing? (Beck)

  • Where we attend to the negatives of a situation and ignore the positives
  • E.g. seeing the world in black and white/ looking at a glass half empty|
• What is a negative self schema? (Beck)

  • We interpret all information/packages of information about ourselves in a negative way
• What is the negative triad? (Beck)

  • Where a person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves due to the 3 types of negative thinking that occur automatically
  • We have a negative view of the world, the future and the self
• What does Ellis's ABC model suggest about depression?

  • Good mental health is the result of rational thinking, conditions like anxiety or depression result from irrational thoughts
  • Irrational thoughts interfere with us being happy, they may increase our vulnerability to depression
• What is Ellis's ABC model?

  1. activating event- external situations (that are usually negative) that may trigger irrational thoughts
  2. Beliefs- we develop irrational beliefs, such as musturbation or i-cant-stand-it-itis
  3. Consequences- the emotional and behavioural consequences of the event and our development of irrational beliefs. This can trigger depression
• What is the irrational belief 'musturbation'?

  • We must always succeed or achieve perfection
• What is the irrational belief 'i-can't-stand-it-itis'?

  • When something does not go smoothly it is a major disaster
• What is the irrational belief 'Utopianism'?

  • Life is always meant to be fair
• Beck eval

  :) Supporting evidence- Grazioli and Terry, counter from Clark and Beck

  :) Practical app in CBT

  :( Doesn't cover all aspects, e.g. cotard syndrome
• Ellis eval

  :) Partial explanation (reactive depression) but doesn't cover endogenous

  :) Practical app, lead to REBT therapy

  :( Doesn't explain all aspects, e.g. hallucinations, delusions