The Cognitive Approach to Depression

• There are two types of depression: Major and Manic
• Major depression affects a persons mood. It is a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities.
• To be diagnosed with depression, and individual must experience one of the symptoms of depression for more than 2 weeks, and 1 much be an emotional symptom.
• When a person experiences a period of high mood, and low mood lasting for at least a week, it is considered manic depression.
• Ellis ABC model. 1.) The activating event occurs 2.) People form their BELIEF about the causes of the activating event 3.) This influences their behaviours, thoughts and feelings, which are the CONSEQUENCES of the belief
• Beck's Cognitive Triad: Irrational Negative Beliefs:

  • The self
  • The world
  • The future
• Beck suggested that people with depression have negative cognitive biases, meaning they are more likely to focus on the negative aspects of their lives
• Research into depression by Koster, found that people with Major depression focus on negatives and have a negative cognitive bias
• Evidence against the cognitive approach to depression

  Alloy and Abramson asked pps how much control they had over a flashing light. Pps with major depression answered more accurately that pps without. Suggesting that not everyone with major depression has irrational beliefs.
• McGuffin et al. 


  Suggested that irrational negative beliefs may not be the only cause of depression. Found that the concordance rate for MZ twins was 46% whereas for DZ twins it was 20%, this indicates that genetic factors contribute to the development of major depression
• CBT aims to remove the negative beliefs that cause depression.
• CBT involves four steps:

  • Identify negative beliefs
  • Challanges each beleif
  • The patient is set homework to test their hypothesis
  • Researcher then evaluate the evidence
• Support for CBT comes from a review from Cijpers fet all, who compared an experimental group of depressed pps receiving CBT to a control group receiving no treatment. Pps who were treated experienced a significant improvement in symptoms, compared to participants who didn't receive treatment. This suggests that CBT is more effective for major depression compared to no treatment
• A limitation is that it may not be effective for everyone because there are individual differences in patients' experiences of depression. Cuijpers et all found that the effectiveness of CBT varies between individuals.
• CBT may not be as effective as other treatments, but treatments aimed at the biological causes may be more effective. Low levels of the neurotransmitter, serotonin, are a biological cause of depression. So patients with major depression are prescribed drugs called anti-depressants. A specific type of anti-depressants called SSRI's, have been found to be effective for treating major depression.