Psychological Explanations for Depression
- Created by: rachel cantwell
- Created on: 08-05-14 19:01
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- Psychological Explanations
- Mourning and melancholia
- AO1
- When a loved one is lost, there is a mourning period, where we recall memories of them and begin to move on
- In some cases, this process goes astray and we continue a pattern of self-abuse and self-blame because anger against the person lost is directed inwards
- This results in depression (anger turned against onself).
- For some the mourning period never ends, a state of melancholia
- AO2
- 1) Shah and Waller
- found that many people who have suffered from depression describe their parents as affectionless
- Suggests that a loss of a loved one plays a role in the development of depression
- Implies that depression is a result of the extension of the mourning (melancholia) and direction of anger at the loss at oneself
- 2) Barnes and Prosen
- Further support
- Men who had lost their fathers through death during childhood scored higher on a depression scale
- again suggesting that withdrawal of affection or bereavement can lead to an extended period of mourning
- 3) Correlational Research
- Does not show cause and effect
- Other factors may have more of an influence in the formation of depression
- Paykel and Copper
- Loss probably only explains a relatively small percentage of cases of depression
- estimated that only 10% of those who experience early loss later become depressed
- This suggests that other factors are involved, e.g becoming homeless
- Paykel and Copper
- 1) Shah and Waller
- AO1
- Beck's Cognitive Theory
- AO1
- Depression is caused by biased thinking, towards negative interpretations of the environment
- Depressed individuals acquire a negative schema in childhood, and therefore have a tendency to take a negative view of the world
- negative schema is activated whenever the individual enters a new situation, such as an exam, that is similar to the original conditions which the schema was learned, resulting in depression
- The cognitive traid mantains the depression
- AO2
- 1) Butler and Beck
- concluded that 80% of adults benefitted from Beck’s cognitive therapy
- This supports the idea that depression has a cognitive basis
- And implies that the theory is internally valid
- 2) Kronbot et al.
- found that people with depression have a more accurate perception of time than those without
- This suggests that those with depression think differently, and therefore perceptions are different
- The study also suggests that not all thoughts are
negative, as depressed individuals were more accurate
- The theory may be limited by generalising all depressive cognitions as negative.
- Correlational research
- No cause and effect
- 3) Kinderman et al.
- found that in a survey, traumatic life events were the single biggest determinant of anxiety and depression
- family history, income and education levels and relationship issues also had significant contributions
- No single cause of depression. This implies that Beck’s theory may be flawed
- 3) Kinderman et al.
- No cause and effect
- 1) Butler and Beck
- AO1
- Mourning and melancholia
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