| |
|
|
|
| |
Basic InformationMore InformationAging and DepressionAntidepressants No Better Than Placebo Says A New Study, But It's Really More Complicated Than That... Blunt InstrumentsBrain Neuroplasticity and Treatment Resistant DepressionComing Out of the Depression ClosetCosmo Magic to Cyclothymic: Highs, Lows and States of FlowDepression and CancerDepression and DiabetesDepression and Heart DiseaseDepression and HIV/AIDSDepression and ParkinsonsDepression and StrokeDepression and WomenDepression, ADHD, Psychotherapy and MedicationDysthymic Disorder SymptomsElliott Smith and the gift of Vulnerability MusicFeeling Good, It's Not Just In the BrainGoing Postal: The Road to Depression and SalvationGuest Editorial: Celeb Feud Brought Up Critical IssuesHelping Children Understand and Cope with Parental DepressionListening to Readers on Prozac, Depression & the Medical System: Part IListening to Readers on Prozac, Depression & the Medical System: Part IIMajor Depression SymptomsMen and DepressionNational Depression Screening Day, Thursday October 8, 2009Older Adults: Depression and Suicide FactsOrganizationsPost Partum Depression and The Importance of SleepReader Feedback on the Depression SeriesRunning On FiftySt. John's Wort FAQStudents and College, A Stressful Time of Life: Parents and Students BewareSymptoms of Depressive DisordersThe Biochemical - Psychosexual Revolution: Getting Up and Close while Being Down and OutThe Existential Crisis, Depression, Anxiety and MortalityThe Liberating and Entangling Webs of Technology, Depression and ProzacThe Long Term Effects of BullyingTop Twelve Tips for Beating (Mostly) Moderate Chronic Clinical DepressionTreatmentTreatment 1 of 2Treatment 2 of 2Unmasking Mental IllnessWebsitesWhat about the "milder" depression: Dysthymic disorder?Why People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: Part 2Why People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: What We Can Learn From a Wartime ExperienceWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with James Gordon MD on Mind Body Medicine and His Book 'Unstuck'Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with with Ronald Dworkin, MD, Ph.D. on Artificial Happiness TestsLatest NewsPhone Care Can Help Combat Post-Heart Surgery DepressionClinical Trials Update: Nov. 16, 2009Depression Linked to Immune Response in PregnancyClinical Trials Update: Nov. 12, 2009Health Tip: Symptoms of Postpartum DepressionBrain Stimulation May Ease Treatment-Resistant DepressionClinical Trials Update: Nov. 9, 2009Adjunctive Psychotherapy for Depression StudiedDepression May Blur Memory of Aches and PainsCognitive Behavioral Therapy Helps Overcome Winter BluesPsychotherapy Beats Light Treatment for SADPhone Counseling for Depression Rings With PromiseDepression Often Goes Untreated in Working MomsConstant Light Linked to Symptoms of DepressionOmega-3 Augmentation of Antidepressant EvaluatedSuicidal Thoughts May Vary by AntidepressantImpact of Maternal Depression and Abuse on Children StudiedRecession Adds to Ranks of Americans With DepressionDepression, Anxiety May Raise Odds of ObesityTelephone Care and Therapy Help to Treat DepressionMother's Use of Antidepressant May Carry Risks for NewbornTroubled Minds Can Mean Wider WaistlinesTeens With ADHD, Depression Risk Internet AddictionAntidepressants May Be Linked to Birth ProblemsMediterranean Diet May Help Prevent DepressionAntidepressants Linked to Heart Defects in NewbornsPredicting Postpartum Depression May Be PossibleDrinking, Weight, Depression Linked in Young Women: StudyHealth Care Assistants May Be Useful in Depression CareDepression May Hasten Cancer DeathStudies Explore Genetic Factors Underlying DepressionSevere, Lasting Depression Tied to Heart Patient DeathsDepressed Teens Continue to Suffer into AdulthoodReport Addresses Depression Management in PregnancyDepression's Effect on Pleasure Is RealForeclosures Plunge People Into DepressionSuicide Risk With Antidepressants Falls With AgeCombo Treatment May Ease Depression After StrokeAntidepressant Use in U.S. Has Almost DoubledCan Children Headed for Teen Depression Be Spotted Early?Primary Care Identification of Depression ExaminedGloomy Days Dim Cognitive Powers of the DepressedDepression Poses Pregnancy RisksDepression, Anxiety Bad for the HeartStudy Refutes Depression Gene FindingDrug May Stem Slide Into Alzheimer's for SomeEffects of Depression on Families Need to Be AddressedIf Mom or Dad Is Depressed, Kids Need Help TooEarly Bedtime May Help Stave Off Teen DepressionNew Program May Help Teens at High Risk for Depression Questions and AnswersBlog EntriesDepression, ADHD, Psychotherapy and MedicationKeeping You Sane: Do You Need a Day Out? Exploring the Upside of ADHDHow to Gain Control of Your Mind, Instead of Your Mind Controlling YouWhat You Need to Know about H1N1 and DepressionMindfulness and ADHD: A Tip from Dr. Lidia ZylowskaFreedom from Your Anxious MindThe Existential Crisis, Depression, Anxiety and MortalityADHD - Breaking the Cycle of ShameFeeling Good, It's Not Just In the BrainAre You Wired to Worry? Children, ADHD and Stimulant MedicationNational Depression Screening Day, Thursday October 8, 2009Mental Health: Our Troubled TeenagersDepression and Its MeaningsTeenage Depression and Consequences5 Steps to Emotional Freedom: Placebo or Panacea?Couples Therapy for Robert and Julia (Romeo and Juliet)New Research: Mindfulness-Based Program as Effective as Antidepressant MedicationAnxiety as a Defense Against Depression: Part 7Students and College, A Stressful Time of Life: Parents and Students BewareAnxiety as a Defense Against Depression: Part 6Brain Neuroplasticity and Treatment Resistant DepressionWhy People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: Part 5Feeling Stuck? Two Things You Need to Know to Make a Change Why People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: Part 4Childhood, Parental Loss and DepressionOne Strategy You Need to Know for Bipolar DisorderWhy People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: Part 3Psychiatric Meds: The Personal Debate Over UseWhy People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: Part 2Are You at Risk for Depression? Here's One Way to Find OutWhat about the "milder" depression: Dysthymic disorder?Why People Might Use Anxiety to Avoid Depression: What We Can Learn From a Wartime ExperienceBipolar Mood Swings? 4 Steps to Nip Them in the BudElisha Goldstein's Top 10 Mental Help Blog Posts3 Steps Out of Helplessness Post Partum Depression and The Importance of Sleep"The Big Emptiness": Hoarding, OCD, Depression and the Quest for MeaningFeeling Depressed? 3 Steps to HappinessDoes Psychotherapy Help Everyone?Of Parking Lots, Stress, Life and PsychotherapyFeeling Stuck with Anxiety or Depression? Try this Today! Catastrophizing Controlling Your Life: 3 Steps to Break FreeTeenagers and Depression: Their Families and PsychotherapyMeaning in Life: What Golf Balls Can Teach UsPeace in Oneself, Peace in the WorldWake Up to What Makes You Happy!Want Mental Health? Lessons from a KingKristie Alley and the Problem of Obesity and DietingHandling Difficult Emotions: The Path Less TraveledCan Blogs Really Help? Making Friends, A Matter of Where You Live?3 Ways to Stay Up in a Depressed Work EnvironmentOne Strategy to be More Successful Day to DayLife Feel Overwhelming? Lessons From a DishwasherWork Place Climate, Depression and Job SearchingVegetarian Diets May Harbor Eating Disordered Youngsters: This is it! Letting Go of Daily StruggleCognitive Distortions, also known as To Do: 3 Steps to Healing When You're Feeling Blue Depression: How We Get Stuck and What Can HelpYoung Yet Sad: The Social PhobicAn Interview with Thomas Joiner, Ph.D. on Why People Commit SuicideAlcohol as the Cause of Depression?Compassion: The Missing LinkBreak Free from the Mental Recession or Depression by Doing LessDepression and MarriageDementia and Neuroplasticity: What Might Help TodayHow this economic recession can pull you into an emotional recession without you even knowing it. 5 key steps that can helpHow Do You Feel After Sex?The Importance of Recognizing Childhood Successes at SchoolYour morning coffee or tea linked to happiness? Child Abuse and Chronic Fatigue SyndromeGrieving: 7 tips to get you through the holidaysFeeling Depressed? Here's 1 practice that could begin to turn it aroundTurn your sleep problems into a dream of the past! 5 tips from a Psychologist and mindfulness-based stress reduction teacherIs Happiness Contagious? Here is one way you can catch itSuicide: Does a Person Have the Right to Take His Own Life?An ancient way that has been called an "antidote" to fearSuspended From College For Expressing Suicidal Ideation (a reaction to an NPR radio story)I dare you: Using gratitude to support your mental healthIs the economy ruining your holiday season? 5 steps to a better holiday How you can be triggered into depression…without even knowing itHow to take advantage of the holidays and stave off stress, anxiety, and depressionA few clues that you’re entering into Seasonal Affective Disorder and what you can do about itA Natural Approach to Treating Depression Web SeriesBreaking down Barack Obama’s Psychology of Hope and how it may help you in trying times…Depression and SpiritualitySuicide Among White Middle Class IncreasesTranscranial Magnetic Stimulation device for treatment-resistant Major Depression just approved by the FDANational Depression Screening Day is just around the corner (October 10th!)Press "D" for Depression TherapyFew People Who Are Depressed Receive Mental Health Services"Guns and Suicide" article and Comments: What about the anger?An Interview with James Gordon, MD on Mind-Body Medicine and his book 'Unstuck'Regulating Brain Chemicals and Mental Illnesses with WINCS and DBSPleasure...Depression’s Kryptonite?World Suicide Prevention Day... September 10, 2008Mood Changes Linked To Seasonal Fluctuations in SerotoninAn Interview with Ronald Dworkin, MD, Ph.D. on Artificial Happiness (using antidepressants to mask ordinary unhappiness)Is Chronic Pain and Depression destroying your life? In Pursuit of Happiness, Part 3 Three things you can do immediately when you find yourself getting depressedWhy Is Happiness So Difficult to Achieve? Part 1The Influence of Culture on the Expression of DepressionLow Self Esteem: Eating or Spending to EscapeDepression and Diabetes: A Deadly CombinationMood Change Doesn't Happen QuicklyLife: Are We Listening and Living?New Hope for People with Major DepressionDepression: A New Frontier in It's TreatmentEconomic and Mental DepressionWhisk Those Blues AwayThe Relationship Between Exercise and MoodAntidepressants No Better Than Placebo Says A New Study, But It's Really More Complicated Than That... Retail Therapy, Sadness and Spending: The Study Behind the StoryI'm So Bored!Psychotherapy: A More than Oncer Per Week CommitmentFeeling down during the winter? You may have SAD (seasonal affective disorder)Diabetes, Depression and LifeElliott Smith and the gift of Vulnerability MusicWomen and DepressionMental Health, Memory and Social InteractionProblems Connected with Anti depressant medicationsPain and DepressionFibromyalgia, It is not just in your headA Combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Antidepressant Medication Works Best for Depressed AdolescentsDogs, Depression and Other Health Issues: Is there something to be gained from Illness?Anti depressants and young people: an issue revisitedAnniversary ReactionsBut, It Still Hurts: Pain-Depression-PainMassive update for our Depression topic centerThe Long Term Effects of BullyingCorrelation: Siblings and Depression?Interpersonal Therapy May Prevent Future Depressive EpisodesThe Negative Effects of Pain on DepressionDepression and Heart DiseaseOur Bipolar Topic Center has been UpdatedPODCAST: Dying To Live - Interview with a heart transplant patientNational Depression Screening Day is Tomorrow!Behavioral Therapy May Be Better Than Cognitive Therapy for Severe DepressionPerfectionism probably creates a Vulnerability for DepressionFeeling Depressed: Influenced by the Attitudes and Opinions of Others?Botox fights Depression?How Prozac gets its groove on.Chronic cortisol exposure causes mood disordersHeart Attacks and Young Women == DepressionSSRI antidepressants raise risk of premature birthAdult ADHD: Difficult to Diagnose and Often MisunderstoodNYTimes has story on Deep Brain Stim for DepressionBrain Scan Predicts Who Will Benefit From Cognitive TherapyThe Midlife Crisis: A Case of Extreme StressTreating Mother's Depression Helps Protect Their ChildrenMaintanence medications ward off senior depression relapseDepression predicts mental decline in seniorsUnmasking Mental IllnessBlunt InstrumentsCosmo Magic to Cyclothymic: Highs, Lows and States of FlowThe Biochemical - Psychosexual Revolution: Getting Up and Close while Being Down and OutListening to Readers on Prozac, Depression & the Medical System: Part IListening to Readers on Prozac, Depression & the Medical System: Part IIThe Liberating and Entangling Webs of Technology, Depression and ProzacTop Twelve Tips for Beating (Mostly) Moderate Chronic Clinical DepressionReader Feedback on the Depression SeriesComing Out of the Depression ClosetGoing Postal: The Road to Depression and SalvationRunning On Fifty VideosLinksBook ReviewsSelf-Help Groups |
| | | |
Cognitive Theories of Major Depression - Ellis and BanduraRashmi Nemade, Ph.D., Natalie Staats Reiss, Ph.D., and Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. Updated: Sep 19th 2007Albert Ellis' Cognitive Theory of Depression
Dr. Albert Ellis pointed out that depressed people's irrational beliefs tend to take the form of absolute statements. Ellis describes three main irrational beliefs typical of depressive thinking:
- "I must be completely competent in everything I do, or I am worthless."
- "Others must treat me considerately, or they are absolutely terrible."
- "The world should always give me happiness, or I will die."
Because of these sorts of beliefs, depressed people make unqualified demands on others and/or convince themselves that they have overwhelming needs that must (simply must!) be fulfilled. Ellis, well known for his rather acid wit, referred to this tendency towards absolutism in depressive thinking as "Musterbation."
Ellis also noted the presence of information processing biases in depressed people's cognitions. Like Beck he noted that depressed people tend to: ignore positive information, pay exaggerated attention to negative information, and to engage in overgeneralization, which occurs when people assume that because some local and isolated event has turned out badly, that this means that all events will turn out badly. For example, depressed people may refuse to see that they have at least a few friends, or that they have had some successes across their lifetime (ignoring the positive). Or, they might dwell on and blow out of proportion the hurts they have suffered (exaggerating the negative). Other depressed people may convince themselves that nobody loves them or that they always mess up (overgeneralizing).
Ellis' ideas led him to develop Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), which was later renamed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). We discuss REBT as well as Beck's CBT in more detail in the treatment sections of this document.
Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory of Depression
Psychologist Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive learning theory suggested that people are shaped by the interactions between their behaviors, thoughts, and environmental events. Each piece in the puzzle can and does affect the shape of the other pieces. Human behavior ends up being largely a product of learning, which may occur vicariously (e.g., by way of observation), as well as through direct experience.
Bandura pointed out that depressed people's self-concepts are different from non-depressed people's self-concepts. Depressed people tend to hold themselves solely responsible for bad things in their lives and are full of self-recrimination and self-blame. In contrast, successes tend to get viewed as having been caused by external factors outside of the depressed person's control. In addition, depressed people tend to have low levels of self-efficacy (a person's belief that they are capable of influencing their situation). Because depressed people also have a flawed judgmental process, they tend to set their personal goals too high, and then fall short of reaching them. Repeated failure further reduces feelings of self-efficacy and leads to depression.
An important psychological concept, which is closely related to Bandura's self-efficacy idea, is Julian Rotter's concept of locus of control. When people believe that they can affect and alter their situations, they may be said to have an internal locus of control and a relatively high sense of self-efficacy. When individuals feel that they are mostly at the mercy of the environment and cannot alter their situation, they have a external locus of control, and a relatively low sense of self-efficacy. To extend the above explanation, depressed people tend to have a external locus of control and a low sense of self-esteem.
|
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
