depression

• depressions behavioural characteristics

  -activity levels,reduced due to lethargy

  -disruption to sleep and eating habits,may have insomnia/hypersomnia or reduced/increased appetite

  -aggression/self harm,irritableness can cause harm
• depressions emotional characteristics

  -lowered mood,feeling empty and worthless

  -anger,to self or others

  -lowered self esteem
• depressions cognitive characteristics

  -poor concentration,hard to focus on one task

  -attending to and dwelling on the negatives,ignoring the positives

  -absolutist thinking,situations are all good or all bad
• cognitive explanation for depression

  Becks 3 part vulnerability to depression

  -faulty information processing,focus on negative if situation

  -negative self schemas,interpret information in a negative way

  -the negative triad,ngetsive thoughts about the world,the future and the self
• cognitive explanation for depressions

  Ellis ABC model, irrational thoughts are the root of depression

  Activating event,negative events trigger irrational beliefs

  Beliefs,musterbation-must always succeed,cantstandititis-when things go wrong it’s a major disaster,utopianism-life should always be fait

  Consequence,emotional and behavioural consequences to irrational beliefs
• cognitive treatments for depression

  CBT

  cognitive element aims to identify irrational and negative thoughts to replace them with ,orr positive rational ones

  behaviourak element aims to change irrational and negative thoughts and put more effective behaviours in place
• cognitive treatments for depression

  Becks cognitive therapy

  -the negative triad is used to challenge irrational thoughts

  -the clinician test the clients negative beliefs,somtimes by homework

  -‘client as the scientist’ is investigating the rationality of their beliefs

  -thoughts can then be challenged by the clinician later on by using evidence
• cognitive treatments for depression

  Ellis’s rational emotive behavioural therapy

  the D+E of the ABC model

  -cognitive element,Disputing the clients irrational beliefs by 3 types of disputing (empirical-evidence,logical-logic to prove,pragmatic-lack of usefulness)

  -cognitive element,this has the Effect of breaking the link between negative life events and depression

  -behavioural element,clients can be set homework and be required to engage in behaviour to challenge irrational thoughts