depression - characteristics, explanations, treatments,

behavioural characteristics of depression

activity levels (lethargy or psychomotor effect), disruption to sleep and eating behaviour (insomnia, hypersomnia, change in appetite), aggression or self harm

emotional characteristics of depression

lowered mood (sadness/absence of emotion), anger, lowered self-esteem (self-loathing)

cognitive characteristics of depression

poor concentration (cant make decisions or stick to tasks), dwelling on the negative (glass half empty), absolutist thinking (black and white thinking)

major depressive disorder (DSM-5 category)

severe depression, often short term

persistent depressive disorder (DSM-5 category)

long-term/ recurring, dysthymia

disruptive mood disregulation disorder (DSM-5 category)

temper tantrums, usually for children

premenstrual dysphoric disorder (DSM-5 category)

mood disruption as a result of menstruation

beck’s negative triad 1967

states depression is caused by cognitive vulnerability - faulty info processing (attending to neg aspects of situations and ignoring pos), neg self schema (neg mental framework about themselves) neg triad (neg view of world, future and self)

pros of beck’s negative triad 1967

research support: cognitive vulnerability more common in depressed people (beck and clarke), cohen tracked 473 adolescents - showing cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression, real world application: screening and treatment of depression, also for cbt

cons of beck’s negative triad 1967

partial explanation: cannot be used to explain extreme anger, hallucinations or delusions, causation fallacy

ellis’ ABC model 1962

states that depression is caused by irrational throughts, activating event (neg events trigger irrational beliefs), beliefs (belief that must always succeed and be perfect), consequences (emotional and behavioural)

pros of ellis’ ABC model 1962

real world application: treatment, rational emotive behaviour therapy, some evidence that rebt can change neg beliefs (david 2018)

cons of ellis’ ABC model 1962

only explains reactive not endogenous depression: partial explanation, many cases of depression not traceable to life events, ethical issues: locates responsibility of depression with individual

beck’s cognitive behaviour therapy

severity of depression assessed, therapist establishes baseline to monitor improvement, client provides info on how they perceive themselves, future and world, therapist uses reality testing

ellis’ rational emotive behaviour therapy

therapist has vigorous argument to prove that client’s irrational belief is wrong: empirical argument and logical argument

pros of cognitive behaviour therapy

evidence of effectiveness: when compared to antidepressant drugs, march found that 81% of both cbt and drug group had improved, brief: cost-effective, good for NHS, lewis & lewis: CBT as effective as drugs for severe depression, taylor: when used appropriately is effective for those with learning disabilities

cons of cognitive behaviour therapy

lack of effectiveness for severe cases and those with learning disabilities - sturmey: may only be appropriate for specific range of people, high relapse rates: Shehzad Ali - 42% relapsed after 6m, 53% after 1y so cbt may need to be repeated periodically

client preference for cbt

some survivors of trauma wish to explore origins of their symptoms, Yrondi 2015: depression patients ranked cbt as their least preferred psychological therapy