depression

• Depression


  A mood disorder, where the suffering experiences low mood and low energy levels
• Depressive disorders


  • Characterised by changes in mood or loss of interest in activities that were once found to be pleasurable
• Depressive disorders must be for no less than two weeks
• Categories of depressive disorders (DSM-5)

  • Major depressive disorder: Severe but often short-term depression
  • Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder: Childhood tantrums
  • Persistent depressive disorder: Long-term, reoccurring depression, including sustained major depression
  • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: Disruption of mood before and/or during menstruation
• Symptoms of depression can be characterised by three areas

  • Behavioural characteristics
  • Emotional characteristics
  • Cognitive characteristics
• Behavioural characteristics


  • Shift in activity levels: Increase or decrease
  • Affected sleep: Increase or decrease
  • Affected appetite: Increase or decrease
  • Aggression and self-harm
• Emotional characteristics


  • Sadness
  • Anger
  • Loss of interests
  • Lower self-esteem
• Cognitive characteristics


  • Negative views of the world
  • Irrational thoughts
  • Poor concentration
  • Negative expectations of themselves
• The cognitive approach to explaining depression looks at our 'mental processes' (thoughts, attention, perceptions) and how they affect our behaviour
• Beck's negative triad


  Cognitive vulnerability that can be caused by the person's cognition (the way they think) and their negative schemas
• Beck's negative triad


  • Faulty information processing
  • Negative self-schema
  • Negative view of the self, the world, and the future
• Faulty information processing


  • Ignoring positives and focusing on negatives
  • Blowing small problems out of proportion
  • Cognitive biases causing the depressed person to constantly see themselves as worthless and useless
• Negative self-schema


  • A framework of negative information the person has about themselves
  • Interpreting all information about or around themselves negatively
• Negative triad


  • Negative view of the self
  • Negative view of the world
  • Negative view of the future
• Cognitive Explanations of Depression: Beck's Negative Triad Evaluation
• Strengths of Beck's Negative Triad

  • Personal life events are taken into account and are recognised as a starting point for the person's depression
  • Joseph Cohen et al. (2019) supported Beck's findings
  • Real-world applications: Allowed psychologists and therapists to understand cognitive vulnerability and apply it in treatments such as CBT
• Limitations of Beck's Negative Triad

  • Does not explain the symptoms of depression
  • Not all irrational thoughts are irrational
• Ellis's ABC model


  Explains how irrational thoughts affect individuals: Activating event, Beliefs, Consequences
• Strengths of Ellis's ABC model

  • REBT (a form of CBT) led by Ellis following the ABC model has been successful in treating depression and changing thought patterns
  • David et al. (2018) stated that REBT can both change negative beliefs and change the symptoms of depression
  • Lays the responsibility with the individual and allows them the power to change the way things are
• Limitations of Ellis's ABC model


  • Not all irrational thoughts are irrational
  • Does not explain all of the symptoms of depression
  • Gives responsibility completely to the individual suffering with depression
  • Only accounts for reactive depression, not endogenous depression
• The most commonly used psychological treatment used to treat depression is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Beck's cognitive therapy


  Application of Beck's theory of depression, where behaviour is affected by thinking and irrational thinking can be changed
• Ellis's Rational Emotive Behaviour (REBT)


  Extends Ellis's ABC model to ABCDE (D is for Dispute and E is for Effect), the main technique is to identify and challenge irrational thoughts
• Strengths of cognitive treatments of depression

  • Quicker treatments than other therapies
  • Evidence for the effectiveness of CBT in treating depression
  • CBT is very effective in treating mild depression and stopping it from progressing into severe depression
  • Teaches the client skills that they could apply to other areas in their life
  • The better trained the therapist, the more successful they are in their treatment outcomes
• Limitations of cognitive treatments of depression

  • CBT has been criticised for blaming the client
  • Some clients with severe depression are unable to motivate themselves
  • CBT can be therapist centered, which is an ethical concern
  • CBT is not very good for those clients who do not like to take or express themselves or lack the verbal skills to do so
  • CBT has a high relapse rate