Cognitive Explanation of Depression

    Cards (5)

    • Beck
      • Suggests it's a person's cognition that makes them more vulnerable to depression  
      • Cognitive vulnerability is either; Faulty information processing = focusing on the negative and ignoring the positive aspects of a situation or Negative self-schema = information about yourself is processed negatively  
      • Negative triad = those with depression become stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts which occur automatically  
    • Beck A03
      • Range of supporting evidence -> Grazio and Terry assessed pregnant women and their cognitive vulnerability and found those who were deemed more vulnerable where more likely to suffer post-natal depression -> these conditions are seen before depression develops suggesting a cognitive aspect 
      • Practical application -> forms the basis of CBT -> cognitive aspects are identified and challenged by the therapist of CBT -> components of triad are easily identifiable meaning they can be questioned by the therapist 
    • Ellis ABC model
      • Used to explain how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state  
      • A (activating event) - a stimuli or trigger -> B (Beliefs) - irrational or rational -> C (consequences) - the way in which we respond either healthy or unhealthy 
      • Masturbatory thinking = irrational thoughts occur because of it -> Idea that certain assumptions/ ideas must be true for an individual to be happy 
    • Ellis ABC model A03
      • Practical applications = has led to successful therapies and research supports the idea that by challenging a person's irrational beliefs a person can reduce their depression 
      • This approach blames the person for the illness rather than situational factors which may in turn further induce their depression 
    • Ellis ABC model A03 (continued)
      • The biological approach disagrees and suggests that mental illnesses are the result of low serotonin levels meaning that something else may be causing the thoughts 
      • An issue is that we cannot establish whether irrational thoughts cause depression of whether they are the result of depression