Explanation

• Who explains depression through a cognitive triad?

  Beck (1976)
• What does Beck (1976) claim depression is caused by?


  Negative self-schemas maintaining the cognitive triad: negative and irrational view of ourselves, our future, and the world
• How do negative self-schemas develop?

  In response to negative experiences, such as criticisms from parents, peers or teachers
• What do depressed people posses?

  Negative cognitive biases; selectively attend to negative stimuli, creating distortion of information (dichotomous thinking or faulty information processing)
• What does Beck suggest depressed people do?


  Make overgeneralisations due to negative cognitive biased and therefore have preconceived expectations
• Who explains depression through the ‘ABC Model’

  Ellis (1962)
• How does Ellis explain depression?


  Result of irrational thinking; therefore states what is required for good mental health
• What does ABC refer to in Ellis’ model?

  Activating event, belief and consequence
• What is the activating event?

  Environmental trigger which may cause irrational thinking; e.g a friend passes you, ignoring you despite you trying to interact with them.
• What is the belief?


  Where the individual has either a rational or irrational interpretation of the event; e.g. rationally, your friend is stressed and busy so they didn’t hear you, or that they dislike you and never want to talk again
• What is the consequence?

  The action taken in response to the interpretation, where rational beliefs lead to healthy outcomes and irrational the opposite; e.g. I will talk to my friend later to see if they are okay, or I will ignore my friend since they don’t want to talk to me