AO3 explaining depression

• support for role of irrational thinking

  Hammen and Krantz - depressed participants made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material than did non-depressed participants.

  Bates et al - depressed participants who were given negative automatic-thought statements became more and more depressed.
• blames the client rather than situational factors

  placing of emphasis on the client is a good thing

  gives the client the power to change the way things are

  limitations - client or therapist may overlook situational factors, like not considering contribution of life events or family problems.
• practical applications in therapy

  Cuijpers et al - CBT is consistently found to be the best treatment for depression, especially when used in conjunction with drug treatments
• irrational beliefs may be realistic

  Alloy and Abramson - depressive realists see things for what they are, normal people see things with rose tinted glasses.

  depressed people gave more accurate estimate of likelihood of a disaster than ‘normal’ controls.

  sadder but wiser effect
• alternative explanations


  role of low levels of neurotransmitter serotonin in depressed people.

  Zhang et al - gene related to this is 10x more likely in people with depression.

  success of drug therapies suggest neurotransmitters do play an important role.

  diathesis-stress approach may be advisable, genetic vulnerability leads to negative irrational thinking.