1
Depression
Specification
The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of depression.
The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression: Beck’s negative triad
and Ellis’s ABC model, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), including challenging
irrational thoughts.
Characteristics of depression
Behavioural
-Loss of energy resulting in fatigue, lethargy, and high levels of inactivity
-Changes in eating behaviour (weight going up or down)
-Sleep pattern disturbance, insomnia or oversleeping
-Less effective behaviour in social, professional and/or educational areas
-Poor personal hygiene
Emotional
-depressed mood i.e. an ever present and overwhelming feeling of sadness and
hopelessness
-irritability
-reduced pleasure in most activities
-feelings of guilt and worthlessness
Cognitive
-thoughts of death or suicide
-an impaired ability to think, and poor concentration
-some depressives will experience delusions, generally concerning guilt,
punishment, worthlessness or disease.
-some will also experience hallucinations
Explanation 1 of depression: Beck’s negative triad
The basic idea
Beck developed a cognitive explanation for depression.
, 2
Beck believed that depressed individuals feel as they do because their thinking is
biased towards negative views (or schemas) of the world and they lack a
perceived sense of control.
Negative schemas and their causes
Depressed people have acquired these negative views of the world during
childhood.
This may be caused by a variety of factors, including parental and/or peer rejection
and criticisms by teachers.
Negative schemas (e.g. expecting to fail) are activated whenever the person
encounters a new situation (e.g. an exam) that resembles the original conditions in
which these schemas were learned.
The triad
Negative schemas maintain the negative triad, a pessimistic and irrational view of
three key elements in a person’s belief system.
-The self; depressed people see themselves as helpless, worthless and
inadequate. For example: ‘I am just plain undesirable, what is there to like? I’m
unattractive and seem to bore everyone.’
-The world; they interpret events in the world in an unrealistically negative and
defeatist way, and they see the world as posing obstacles that can’t be handled.
For example: ‘I can understand why people don’t like me. They would all prefer
someone else’s company. Even my boyfriend left me.’
-The future; they see the future as totally hopeless because their worthlessness
will prevent their situation from improving. For example: ‘I am always going to be
on my own, there is nothing that is going to change this.’
Evaluation of Beck’s negative triad
Positive Negative
1. Evidence to support Beck’s theory, 1. Issues of causality
Boury et al., 2001
Undoubtedly, people with depression
Boury et al. monitored students’ have negative thoughts. However this
negative thoughts with the Beck does not mean that negative thoughts
depression inventory (BDI), finding that cause depression.
depressives misinterpret facts and
experiences in a negative fashion and It may be that, for example, a
feel hopeless about the future, giving depressed individual develops a
support to Beck’s cognitive explanation. negative way of thinking because of
their depression rather than the other
way around.
It may be that a sufferer develops
Depression
Specification
The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of depression.
The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression: Beck’s negative triad
and Ellis’s ABC model, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), including challenging
irrational thoughts.
Characteristics of depression
Behavioural
-Loss of energy resulting in fatigue, lethargy, and high levels of inactivity
-Changes in eating behaviour (weight going up or down)
-Sleep pattern disturbance, insomnia or oversleeping
-Less effective behaviour in social, professional and/or educational areas
-Poor personal hygiene
Emotional
-depressed mood i.e. an ever present and overwhelming feeling of sadness and
hopelessness
-irritability
-reduced pleasure in most activities
-feelings of guilt and worthlessness
Cognitive
-thoughts of death or suicide
-an impaired ability to think, and poor concentration
-some depressives will experience delusions, generally concerning guilt,
punishment, worthlessness or disease.
-some will also experience hallucinations
Explanation 1 of depression: Beck’s negative triad
The basic idea
Beck developed a cognitive explanation for depression.
, 2
Beck believed that depressed individuals feel as they do because their thinking is
biased towards negative views (or schemas) of the world and they lack a
perceived sense of control.
Negative schemas and their causes
Depressed people have acquired these negative views of the world during
childhood.
This may be caused by a variety of factors, including parental and/or peer rejection
and criticisms by teachers.
Negative schemas (e.g. expecting to fail) are activated whenever the person
encounters a new situation (e.g. an exam) that resembles the original conditions in
which these schemas were learned.
The triad
Negative schemas maintain the negative triad, a pessimistic and irrational view of
three key elements in a person’s belief system.
-The self; depressed people see themselves as helpless, worthless and
inadequate. For example: ‘I am just plain undesirable, what is there to like? I’m
unattractive and seem to bore everyone.’
-The world; they interpret events in the world in an unrealistically negative and
defeatist way, and they see the world as posing obstacles that can’t be handled.
For example: ‘I can understand why people don’t like me. They would all prefer
someone else’s company. Even my boyfriend left me.’
-The future; they see the future as totally hopeless because their worthlessness
will prevent their situation from improving. For example: ‘I am always going to be
on my own, there is nothing that is going to change this.’
Evaluation of Beck’s negative triad
Positive Negative
1. Evidence to support Beck’s theory, 1. Issues of causality
Boury et al., 2001
Undoubtedly, people with depression
Boury et al. monitored students’ have negative thoughts. However this
negative thoughts with the Beck does not mean that negative thoughts
depression inventory (BDI), finding that cause depression.
depressives misinterpret facts and
experiences in a negative fashion and It may be that, for example, a
feel hopeless about the future, giving depressed individual develops a
support to Beck’s cognitive explanation. negative way of thinking because of
their depression rather than the other
way around.
It may be that a sufferer develops
