depression explanation

Question 1

what approach are we using to explain depresssion

Answer 1

cognitive :P

Question 2

what is depression

Answer 2

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels

Question 3

wht type of characterictsi of drepession are there

Answer 3

behavioural
emotional
cognitive

Question 3

what are the behavioural characteritsics of depression

DADA

Answer 3

• activity levels
• disruption to sleep
• disruption to eating behaviour
• agression and self-harm

Question 4

what are the emotional characteritsics of depression

ALL

Answer 4

• lowerd mood
• anger
• lower self esteem

Question 4

what are the cognitive characteritsics of depression

APA

Answer 4

• poor concentration
• Attending to and dwelling on the negative
• absolutist thinking

Question 5

explain activity levels

Answer 5

behavioural
- Reduced energy levels, making them lethargic
- knock-on effect, with people withdrawing from work, education, social life - in extreme case people can’t get out of bed
- can lead to the opposite effect known as psychomotor agitation - agitated individuals struggle to relax

Question 6

explain disruption to sleeping habits

Answer 6

behavioural
- insomnia - reduced sleep, premature waking, leads to reduced energy levels, making them lethargic
- Hypersomnia - increased need for sleep

Question 6

explain disruption to eating habits

Answer 6

behavioural
appetite may increase leadign to weight gain
appetite may decrease leadign to weight loss

Question 7

explain aggresion and self-harm

Answer 7

behavioural
- Often irritable - can lead to physically/verbally agressive - can have knock on effects onto people’s jobs
- Can lead to aggression directed against the self - self-harm eg. Cutting yourself, burning yourself, restricting food intake or suicidal ideations/attempts (embarassing who would ever do that 😂😐)

Question 8

explain anger

Answer 8

• emotional
• People frequently experience anger, sometimes extreme anger, can be directed at self for others
• On occasion such emotions lead to aggressive or self-harming behaviour (why this characteristic is also behavioural)

Question 9

explain lowered mood

Answer 9

• More pronounced feeling of sadness and lethargy in the daily kind of experience
• Depressed people will often describe themselves as worthless and empty

Question 10

explain lowered self esteem

Answer 10

• emotional
• Self-esteem is the emotional experience of how much we like ourselves
• People with depression tend to have reduced self-esteem, like themselves less than usual, can be quite extreme with some people with depression describing sense of self-loathing

Question 11

explain absolutist thinking

Answer 11

• cognitive
• Most situations aren’t all-good or all-bad but a depressed person will tend to think in these terms - ‘black and white thinking’
• When a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster

Question 12

explain Attending to and dwelling on the negative

Answer 12

• cognitive
  · During depressive episodes people inclined to pay attention to more negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positive
  · Depressed people also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones

Question 13

explain poor concentration

Answer 13

• cognitive
  · Depression is associated with poor levels of concentration
  · May be unable to stick with a task they usually would or might find it hard to make decisions they would normally find straightforward
  · Poor concentration and decision-making are likely to interfere with individual’s work