✏️The cognitive approach to explaining depression
Beck came up with the negative triad. He said that some people are more prone to depression
because they have faulty processing of information. This means that when depressed people only
focus on the negative aspect and ignore the positives, they also tend to think about small problems
and blow them out of proportion, thinking in black-and-white terms. Depressed people also often
have a negative self-schema. Schema is the package of information we have developed through
experience. People who have a negative self-schema view the world around them, and information
about themselves, in a negative way. Beck came up with the negative triad. This is a negative view of
the world, a negative view of the future, and a negative view of the self. A combination of these
three can cause people to develop depression.
Ellis came up with the ABC model for explaining depression. This involved 3 stages. A stands for
activating event. This means that depression arises from irrational thoughts. Ellis said that
depression occurs when we experience negative events such as failing an important test. B stands
for beliefs. An initial negative event can trigger irrational beliefs to take place. Ellis said that the
belief that we must always succeed is called 'musterbation', which would be an irrational thought. C
stands for consequences. This means that there are consequences to irrational beliefs, such as
depression.
A strength of Beck's negative triad model is that there is supporting evidence. Two researchers said
that cognitive vulnerabilities such as faulty information processing and negative self-schema are
more common in depressed people. A study was carried out which tracked 473 adolescents'
development and found that early cognitive vulnerability leads to later depression. This shows that
there is an association between depression and cognitive vulnerability.
Another strength is that there is real-world application. Assessing people's cognitive vulnerability
when they are young means that people most at risk of getting depression can be monitored.
Understanding how cognitive vulnerability works can then be applied to CBT, which can help make
people more resilient to life events in the future. This means that cognitive vulnerability can be
applied to clinical practice.
A strength of the ABC model is that it has applications in treating depression. The ABC model can be
applied to REBT, a form of treating depression. There is evidence that REBT can change negative
beliefs and relieve depression symptoms. This means that the REBT has real-world value to help
people cure depression.
A limitation is that Ellis's model only explains reactive depression. This is when people develop
depression as a reaction to an event. However in many cases, depression isn't caused by an event, or
it isn't obvious what caused the depression. This means that Ellis's model can only explain some
forms of depression.
Beck came up with the negative triad. He said that some people are more prone to depression
because they have faulty processing of information. This means that when depressed people only
focus on the negative aspect and ignore the positives, they also tend to think about small problems
and blow them out of proportion, thinking in black-and-white terms. Depressed people also often
have a negative self-schema. Schema is the package of information we have developed through
experience. People who have a negative self-schema view the world around them, and information
about themselves, in a negative way. Beck came up with the negative triad. This is a negative view of
the world, a negative view of the future, and a negative view of the self. A combination of these
three can cause people to develop depression.
Ellis came up with the ABC model for explaining depression. This involved 3 stages. A stands for
activating event. This means that depression arises from irrational thoughts. Ellis said that
depression occurs when we experience negative events such as failing an important test. B stands
for beliefs. An initial negative event can trigger irrational beliefs to take place. Ellis said that the
belief that we must always succeed is called 'musterbation', which would be an irrational thought. C
stands for consequences. This means that there are consequences to irrational beliefs, such as
depression.
A strength of Beck's negative triad model is that there is supporting evidence. Two researchers said
that cognitive vulnerabilities such as faulty information processing and negative self-schema are
more common in depressed people. A study was carried out which tracked 473 adolescents'
development and found that early cognitive vulnerability leads to later depression. This shows that
there is an association between depression and cognitive vulnerability.
Another strength is that there is real-world application. Assessing people's cognitive vulnerability
when they are young means that people most at risk of getting depression can be monitored.
Understanding how cognitive vulnerability works can then be applied to CBT, which can help make
people more resilient to life events in the future. This means that cognitive vulnerability can be
applied to clinical practice.
A strength of the ABC model is that it has applications in treating depression. The ABC model can be
applied to REBT, a form of treating depression. There is evidence that REBT can change negative
beliefs and relieve depression symptoms. This means that the REBT has real-world value to help
people cure depression.
A limitation is that Ellis's model only explains reactive depression. This is when people develop
depression as a reaction to an event. However in many cases, depression isn't caused by an event, or
it isn't obvious what caused the depression. This means that Ellis's model can only explain some
forms of depression.
