Cognitive explanation for depression

• The cognitive approach to depression claims that emotional problems are the result of cognitive distortions ( irrational thinking )
• Two main cognitive explanations of depression:

  Beck 's cognitive triad

  Ellis 's irrational thinking ( ABC model )
• Beck claimed that depression is caused by negative self schemes maintaining the cognitive triad
• Beck 's cognitive triad:

  Negative view of ourself

  Negative view of the future

  Negative views of the world
• Negative self schema - These are developed in childhood, and depressed people possess these. These are " packets " of information about ourself and the world.
• Negative self schemas can come from criticism from parents, peers or even teachers
• Negative self schema example - ineptness schema - the individual expects to fail
• Cognitive biases - depressed people are more likely to focus on the negative part of a situation, ignoring the positives.
• Cognitive biases:

  overgeneralisations

  catastrophising
• Overgeneralisations - sweeping conclusion based on a single incident
• Catastrophising - exaggerating a minor set back, believing it is a complete disaster
• Ellis 's ABC model - a three stage model explaining how irrational thoughts can lead to depression. Good mental health is the result of rational thinking, allowing people to be happy and pain free.
• A - activating event

  B - beliefs

  C - consequences
• Activating event - an event occurs, for example your friend ignores you when you pass them, even though you said hello
• Beliefs - your belief is your interpretation of the event, which could be rational or irrational. A rational belief would be that your friend is busy, or they didn't see you. An irrational belief is that your friend dislikes you and never wants to speak to you again
• Consequences - rational thinking will lead to healthy outcomes, like talking to the friend later to check if they're okay. Irrational thinking leads to unhealthy outcomes, including depression, like ignoring the friend and deleting their number as they " clearly " don't want to be friends
• AO3. The cognitive explanation for depression has application to therapy. These explanations have been used to develop effective treatments for depression, including cognitive behavioural therapy ( CBT ) and Rational Emotional Behaviour Therapy ( REBT ) developed by Ellis 's ABC model. These therapies attempt to identify and challenge negative, irrational beliefs, and have successfully treat people with depression.
• AO3. The cognitive approach does not explain the origin of irrational thoughts. Most of the research in the area is correlational, psychologists are unable to determine if negative, irrational thoughts cause depression, or whether a person's depression leads to a negative mindset. It could be possible that other factors like genes and neurotransmitters lead to depression
• AO3. There are alternative explanations suggesting that depression is a biological condition. Research focused on the role of serotonin has found lower levels in patients with depression. In addition, drug therapies that increase the level of serotonin ( like SSRIs ) are found to be effective in the treatment of depression. This provides further support for the role of neurotransmitters in the development of depression. This casts doubt on the cognitive explanation.
• AO3. There is research evidence supporting the cognitive explanation of depression . Boury found that patients with depression were more likely to misinterpret information negatively ( cognitive bias ) and feel hopeless about their future ( cognitive triad ). Further to this, Bates gave depressed patients negative statements to read and found that their depression symptoms became worse. These findings support different components of Beck ' theory that cognition is involved in depression