‘Explain TWO cognitive explanations of depression.’ [16 MARKS]

The first explanation of depression is Beck’s cognitive theory of depression which had three parts to explain why some people were more vulnerable to depression than others. The first is ‘Faulty Information Processing’. Faulty information processing is a type of thinking that can lead individuals to pay more attention to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. For example. if an individual had won £1 million in the lottery, they would focus on the fact that someone had won £10 million the week before instead of focusing on what they could do with the £1 million that they already have. Faulty information processing also leads individuals to think in ‘black and white’ terms, and that every thing is either all good, or all bad. The second part of Becks theory is ’Negative Self Schema’s’. A scheme is a package of information that acts as a mental framework for the interpretation of sensory information. A self schema is the information that we have about ourselves. Schemas are what we use to interpret ourselves and the world so if this schema is negative, then all the information that we have of ourselves will be viewed negatively. Negative self schemas can then lead to people saying negative things about themselves. The third part of Becks theory is the ’Negative Triad’ which is the idea that people with depression are trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts that first begins with a negative view of self, then a negative view of the world, and then a negative view on the future.

An advantage of Beck’s cogntive theory of depression is that there is practical application of it in CBT. All aspects of depression can be identified and challenged in CBT and includes the components of the negative triad. This is an advantage of Becks theory because it shows that it translates well into a successful therapy to treat depression. A disadvantage of becks theory, however, is that it does not explain all aspects of depression. Becks theory explains the basic symptoms of depression but cannot explain the complex such of depression that are more difficult to explain such as deep anger, hallucinations and bizzare beliefs. Becks cognitive theory fails to explain the causes of these things. This is a disadvantage because Beck’s theory cannot be used for all the cases of depression. Anither advantage of Beck’s cognitive explanation of depression is that there is good supporting evidence from Terry’s research which assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. They found that those women judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer from post-natal depression. This is an avdnatgae because it shiws that Beck may have been right in saying that cognition causes depression.

The second cognitive explanation of depression is Ellis’ ABC model. Ellis argued that there are common irrational beliefs that underlie much of depression, and that sufferers of depression base their lives off of these irrational beliefs. ‘A’ in the model stands for the ‘Activating event’ which refers to the event that started of the individuals depression. The activating event is usually an event or an experience that was negative. ‘B’ in the model stands for ‘belief’ which means that once the activating event has happened, this leads to the individual have irrational beliefs that were caused by the activating event. ‘C’ in the model stands for the ‘Consequences’ of the irrational belief. This consequence can usually be emotional and behavioural which leads to depression.

A disadvantage of Ellis’ ABC model is that it is only a partial explanation for depression. Even though there are many cases where depression has been caused by individuals going through an activating event, but this is a disadvantage to the ABC model as it only applies to depression that was caused by an activating event and therefore cannot be applied to cases of depression that have been caused by biological and hormonal issues in the brain. Another disadvantage of Ellis’ ABC models is that the ABC models also does not easily explain the anger, hallucinations and bizzare beliefs that are associated with depression. An advantage of Ellis’ ABC model is that it also has practical application in CBT therpay as the idea that by challenging irrational negative beliefs, a person can reduce their depression is supported by research evidence.This is an advantage of the ABC model because it shows that the irrational beliefs have some role in depression.