treating depression

what is a commonly used method treat depression

CBT - talking therapy which focuses on identifying and challenging a persons irrational thoughts

what are the 2 types of CBT

Ellis REBT (rational emotive behaviour therapy)

Becks Cognitive Therapy

what is REBT

ABCDE model which Ellis developed from his original ABC model

A - activating event (trigger)

B - irrational belief (of why activating event happened)

C - negative emotional and behavioural consequence

D - dispute of irrational belief

-empirical dispute = is there evidence to support the irrational belief

-logical dispute = does the irrational belief make sense

E - effect = the change of an irrational belief

what is Becks Cognitive Therapy and what does it consist of

-last several weeks and focuses on the patients present experiences

behavioural activation - patient is encouraged to participate in enjoyable activities e.g. socialising, which they would otherwise avoid as this helps increase positive emotions and challenges irrational beliefs

reality testing - therapist gets patient to do homework tasks e.g. write down positive experiences like when someone was nice to them - this homework collects evidence which challenges irrational thoughts

thought catching - therapist teaches patient thought catching, identifying their automatic irrational thoughts and challenging them before being distorted by the negative triad

strength strength weakness

:) research supp effective in reducing symptoms - found in a sample of teenagers with depression, CBT was equally as effective as antidepressant medication when treating disorder, adolescents showed significant improvements in irrational beliefs, increases real world app as helps reduce therapy without any side effects compared to drug therapy

:) CBT is very goal orientated - focuses on the patient truthfully sharing their irrational beliefs and reflecting on them, this helps promote autonomy so that eventually patient is capable of independently managing their own thoughts, hence, are much less likely to relapse as they are now capable of looking after their own mental health which improves QoL long term

:( not suitable for all patients as it requires active patient participation, regular reoccurring sessions which for someone with very severe depression experiencing very low moods and low energy may be too demanding therefore other treatments e.g. drug treatments like antidepressants may be more suitable to initially help with recovery