The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression Deck (27)
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1
Q

How does the cognitive approach explain depression in general?

A

Faulty and irrational thought processes and perceptions. Maladaptive cognitions cause maladaptive behaviours

2
Q

What does Beck believe causes depression?

A

Negative schemas, together with cognitive biases/distortions, maintain the negative triad. Negative schemas provide a negative framework to view life in a pessimistic fashion

3
Q

When does Beck believe negative schemas develop?

A

In childhood and adolescence, when authority figures (such as parents) place unreal demands on individuals and are highly critical of them

4
Q

What do negative schemas fuel and are fuelled by?

A

Cognitive biases which cause individuals to misperceive reality

5
Q

Name three negative schemas

A
  • Ineptness; Expecting to fail
  • Self-blame; Feeling responsible for all misfortunes
  • Negative self-evaluation; Constantly reminding depressives of their worthlessness
6
Q

Name four cognitive biases

A
  • Arbitrary interference; conclusions drawn in the absence of sufficient evidence
  • Selective abstraction; conclusions drawn from just one part of a situation
  • Overgeneralisation; sweeping conclusions drawn on the basis of one event
  • Magnification and minimisation; exaggeration in evaluation of performance
7
Q

What makes up Beck’s negative triad?

A

The self - Individuals see themselves as being helpless, worthless and inadequate

The world - Obstacles are perceived within one’s environment that cannot be dealt with

The future - Personal worthlessness is seen as blocking any improvements

8
Q

How does Ellis explain depression?

A

Individuals mistakenly blame external events for their depression, but it is actually their interpretation of the events that causes their depression. To explain this process he developed the ABC model

9
Q

What is Ellis’ ABC model?

A

A ctivating event - Something happens in the environment around you

B eliefs - You hold a belief about that event or situation

C onsequence - You have an emotional response to that belief

The activating event triggers an emotion that is seen s true and the consequence is that the individual becomes depressed because they have a negative view of themselves and their ability

10
Q

What does Ellis suggest is the difference between depressed and non-depressed people?

A

How they perceive themselves

11
Q

What therapy was formed from Ellis’ ABC model?

A

Rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)

12
Q

What does Abramson et al. propose?

A

A cognitive model seeing the cause of depression as the way individuals attribute reasons to events that occur in their lives. Those with an external locus of control are more vulnerable to depression

13
Q

Who found that depressed individuals have difficulty activating brain areas associated with cognitive control of emotional information?

A

Beevers et al.

14
Q

What type of depression does the cognitive approach have less success in explaining and treating?

A

Bipolar depression

15
Q

What other explanations for depression are there?

A

Genetic and behavioural (learned helplessness)

16
Q

What is the main cognitive method of treating depression?

A

Cognitive behavioural therapy

17
Q

What is the idea behind CBT?

A

Beliefs, expectations and cognitive assessments of the self, environment and the nature of personal problems affect how individuals perceive themselves and others

18
Q

What does CBT aim to do?

A

Assist patients in identifying irrational and maladaptive thoughts and alter them. As maladaptive behaviour is caused by maladaptive thought processes, fixing the thought process fixes the behaviour

19
Q

What other two therapies come under the CBT umbrella and are used to treat depression?

A

Rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) and treatment of negative automatic thoughts (TNAT). The central idea of both is to challenge and restructure maladaptive ways of thinking

20
Q

What are musturbatory beliefs and how many did Ellis identify?

A

Irrational beliefs that are emotionally damaging and can lead to psychological problems; 11

21
Q

Which cognitive therapy involves reframing?

A

REBT

22
Q

What does REBT therapy aim to do?

A

Patients should become more realistic, able to distinguish fact from fiction and don’t perceive things in extreme terms

23
Q

What are the three stages of REBT therapy?

A
  • Education phase - identifying and challenging negative thought patterns
  • Behavioural activation
  • Event scheduling
    These last two aim to increase physiological activity and participation in social and other activities
24
Q

What did Sandra Embling find?

A

CBT combined with drug therapy is more effective than CBT alone, and the treatment group displayed more negative emotions at the end of treatment than the beginning, which is necessary for recovery

Those who didn’t improve had personality traits such as sociotropy and perfectionism

25
Q

What is the problem with CBT being too therapist-centred?

A

Therapists may abuse their power of control over their patients and can lead to patients depending on their therapist

26
Q

What other treatment is there for CBT?

A

Electroconvulsive therapy - Stimulating the brain through electrodes on the head thought to produce changes in neurotransmitter levels including serotonin and noradrenaline

27
Q

What did March find?

A

CBT works as well as drug therapy, but are most effective when used together. 86% had successful recoveries when using combined therapies and 81% for each therapy individually