Cognitive approach to explaining depression

• faulty information processing

  beck suggested some people are more prone to depression because of faulty information processing. when depressed people attend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore positives, they also tend to blow small problems out of proportion and think in 'black and white' terms.
• depressed people have negative self-schemas

  a schema is a 'package' of ideas and information developed through experience. we use schemas to interpret the world, so if a person has a negative self-schema they interpret all information about themselves in a negative way.
• the negative triad

  • negative views of the world
  • negative view of the future
  • negative view of the self
• who developed the negative triad?

  beck
• who developed the ABC model?

  ellis
• A: activating event

  ellis suggested depression arises from irrational thoughts. according to him, depression occurs when we experience negative events, e.g. ending a relationship.
• B: beliefs

  negative event triggers irrational beliefs, e.g.:

  • 'musterbation'- the belief that we must always succeed
  • 'I-cant-stand-it-itis'- the belief that it is a disaster when things do not go smoothly
  • 'utopianism'- the belief that the world must always be fair and just
• C: consequences

  when an activation event triggers irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences, e.g. if you believe you must always succeed and fail at something then the consequence is depression.
• strength of beck's theory: good supporting evidence

  graziosi and terry assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. they found those women judges to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression. these cognitions can be seen before depression develops, suggesting that beck may be right about cognition causing depression at least in some cases.
• limitation of beck's theory: doesn't explain all aspects of depression

  depression is a complex disorder. some depressed patients are deeply angry and beck cannot easily explain that extreme emotion. some depression patients suffer hallucinations and bizarre beliefs, or suffer cotard syndrome (the belief that they are zombies). becks theory cannot always explain all causes of depression and just focuses on one aspect of the disorder.
• limitation of ellis' model: partial explanation of depression

  no doubt that some cases of depression follow activating events. psychologists call this reactive depression and see it as different from the kind of depression that arises without an obvious cause. this means ellis' explanation only applied to some kinds of depression.
• strength: beck's theory has practical application as a therapy

  beck's cognitive explanation forms the basis of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). the components of the negative triad can be easily identified and challenged in CBT. this means a patient can test whether the elements of the negative triad are true. this is a strength of the explanation because it translates well into a successful therapy.