Behavioral theories of depression
Encyclopedia
There are numerous theories of depression
, even with the sub-field of Behavioral psychology. This article discusses the theoretical underpinnings of several behavioral therapies.
(BA) is an idiographic and functional approach to depression. It argues that people with depression act in ways that maintain the depression such as avoidant behavior. Treatment revolves around discovering the contingencies that lead to maintenance of the depression and experimentation with changing one's behaviors according to an agreed upon plan. BA uses functional analysis
to identify the three-term contingency of antecedents, behaviors, and consequences.
s. Aaron Beck attributed depression to a cognitive triad
: a negative view of self, the world, and the future. Cognitive bias
es may also exist which cause situations to be interpreted in skewed way (e.g. overgeneralization, magnification, personalization, selective abstraction
, arbitrary inference
, and categorical/dichotomous thinking). These result in a pessimistic explanatory style -- that is, seeing problems as one's fault, as permanent, and as pervasive. Depression can be resolved by changing one's pattern of thinking, although this requires both cognitive restructuring
as well as some behavior modification
such as desensitization or exposure therapy to overcome avoidance.
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, even with the sub-field of Behavioral psychology. This article discusses the theoretical underpinnings of several behavioral therapies.
Behavioral Activation
Behavioral ActivationBehavioral activation
Behavioral activation is a third generation behavior therapy for treating depression. It is one of many functional analytic psychotherapies which are based on a Skinnerian psychological model of behavior change, generally referred to as applied behavior analysis...
(BA) is an idiographic and functional approach to depression. It argues that people with depression act in ways that maintain the depression such as avoidant behavior. Treatment revolves around discovering the contingencies that lead to maintenance of the depression and experimentation with changing one's behaviors according to an agreed upon plan. BA uses functional analysis
Functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure and the linear operators acting upon these spaces and respecting these structures in a suitable sense...
to identify the three-term contingency of antecedents, behaviors, and consequences.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Practitioners using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are likely to believe that depression has its roots in negative cognitionCognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
s. Aaron Beck attributed depression to a cognitive triad
Beck's cognitive triad
Beck's cognitive triad is a triad of types of negative thought present in depression proposed by Aaron Beck in 1976. The triad forms part of his Cognitive Theory Of Depression.The triad involves negative thoughts about:# The self...
: a negative view of self, the world, and the future. Cognitive bias
Cognitive bias
A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment that occurs in particular situations. Implicit in the concept of a "pattern of deviation" is a standard of comparison; this may be the judgment of people outside those particular situations, or may be a set of independently verifiable...
es may also exist which cause situations to be interpreted in skewed way (e.g. overgeneralization, magnification, personalization, selective abstraction
Selective abstraction
In clinical psychology, selective abstraction is a type of cognitive bias in which a detail is taken out of context and believed whilst everything else in the context is ignored. It commonly appears in Aaron Beck's work in cognitive therapy.-See also:...
, arbitrary inference
Arbitrary inference
In clinical psychology, arbitrary inference is a type of cognitive bias in which a person quickly draws a conclusion without the requisite evidence. It commonly appears in Aaron Beck's work in cognitive therapy.-See also:* Aaron T. Beck* Clinical Psychology...
, and categorical/dichotomous thinking). These result in a pessimistic explanatory style -- that is, seeing problems as one's fault, as permanent, and as pervasive. Depression can be resolved by changing one's pattern of thinking, although this requires both cognitive restructuring
Cognitive restructuring
Cognitive restructuring, sometimes used synonymously with Debating, is the process of learning to identify irrational or maladaptive thoughts and challenge their veracity using strategies such as logical disputation....
as well as some behavior modification
Behavior modification
Behavior modification is the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniques to increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior and/or the reduction of...
such as desensitization or exposure therapy to overcome avoidance.
See also
- Behavioral activationBehavioral activationBehavioral activation is a third generation behavior therapy for treating depression. It is one of many functional analytic psychotherapies which are based on a Skinnerian psychological model of behavior change, generally referred to as applied behavior analysis...
- Behavioral therapy
- Clinical psychologyClinical psychologyClinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
- Major depressive disorder