Becks Negative Triad

• Beck believed that depression has 3 components called the cognitive triad; which is the negative view of the self, world and future. Beck believes that these negative views interfere with normal cognitive activities like memory and problem solving. Each one feeds into the other.
• It starts with a negative view of the self which begins in childhood as a negative self schema, from experiences like rejection from peers. Individuals see themselves as being helpless, worthless and inadequate e.g. "I am unattractive, what is there to like about me." This then filters into adulthood...
• ...feeding into the negative view of the world. This is where obstacles and issues are perceived within ones environment that cannot be dealt with e.g. "No one loves me".
• This feeds into the negative view of the future where a persons worthlessness is seen as blocking any improvements e.g. "Im always going to be on my own.
• This forms an unending, intrusive cycle of depressive thoughts that cannot be controlled by the thinker. Negative schemas, together with cognitive biases maintain the negative triad
• People with negative schemas become prone to making errors in their thinking. They may have selective attention and so focus selectively on certain aspects of a situation, almost always negative, ignoring equally relevant information. They also may over generalise, making sweeping conclusions on the basis of a single event.