Cognitive explanation of depression- Becks Triad

Beck introduced a 3 part model that shows how depression is formed
1. Step one: Negative schema and silent assumptions
  1. Negative schema
    1. A negative schema is the way in which we view ourselves in a negative way and is formed during childhood
    2. If we get a lot of criticism and get rejected as a child, we start to think badly of ourselves and therefore we develop a negative schema of ourselves
  2. Silent assumptions
    1. People, e.g. parents or teachers might make us feel like we have to get their approval as they might criticise us or reject us
    2. Later on in life, we generalise these assumptions: we assume that we need...
      1. To gain everyones approval
      2. To do things perfectly or not at all
      3. To be valued by others or life has no meaning
      4. The world to be just and fair
2. Step two: ABC trigger
  1. Beck believed that negative schemas and silent assumptions don't actually give us depression, they just make us prone to it
    1. A negative event is required to trigger these silent assumptions and negative schema e.g. divorce
      1. The ABC triad: It starts with a negative event that then causes the person to have negative self belief, which finally impacts on behaviour and resulting in depression
        Example: A person gets a divorce and then starts to think badly of themselves e.g. 'I am worthless and unlovable' or 'I will never find love again'. This impacts the personas behaviour, e.g. they may socially withdraw, overall causing depression
3. Step three: Cognitive triad impairments and faulty information processing
  1. Faulty information processing
    1. Arbitrary influence: drawing conclusions based on insufficient evidence
      1. Black and white thinking: viewing everything in terms of success or failure
    2. Selective abstraction: Focusing on negative events over numerous positive ones
      1. Overgeneralisation: looking at everything negatively based on one minor event
    3. Magnification: Praise is underemphasised, negatives are overemphasised
    4. Catastrophising: Minor setbacks are thought about so much that they become complete disasters
  2. Cognitive triad
    1. When a person has depression, their cognitive triad becomes impaired.
      1. The person has negative views of themselves, e.g. 'I am worthless', negative views of the future e.g. 'Things are never going to get better', and negative views of other experiences and the rest of the world e.g. 'I am so bad at everything and the whole world hates me'.
        Negative views of experiences is basically generalised negative self view
Becks ideas came from his investigations on the negative thinking patterns of depressed patients.
1. From this, he proposed that depression was a result of a 'triad of impairments'; people become depressed due to abnormalities in their thought processes
2. A person without depression would view negative setbacks, e.g a broken down car, as inconvenient but not the end of the world; they can simply get the bus. A depressed person would see this event as an indicator of how hopeless life is.
People with depression tend to 'exaggerate' the negative things that happen to them, even if they are minor setbacks.
1. This results in self blame and negative recollections of events.
Evaluation
1. (S) Cognitive therapies have proved sucessful in the treatment of depression, indicating a cognitive cause to it.
  1. (W)! However- aetiology fallacy; although cognitive therapies treat depression, it doesn't directly show its cause.
2. (W) Some evidence suggests that depressives aren't negative, but rather they are realistic. Rather than our though processes becoming negative, we are simply facing the world more realistically
3. Lobitz and Post (1979) state that depressives have an accurate expectancy of success- it is normal people who do not have a grasp of reality. Depressives are better equipped for the real world and their thinking isn't abnormal or faulty, it is simply more accurate,
4. (W) Lewinsohn et al (1980) noted that depressives are more accurate at judging their level of social skill. They are just judging their skill more realistically.Moreover, they suggested that negative thoughts were the result of depression not the cause.

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Cognitive explanation of depression- Becks Triad

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