4006PY Assessment Draft
Introduction:
Hello, the topic of my poster is Depression. Depression can be defined as, “A
common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think
and how you act” (Torres, 2020). The World Health Organization (2021) estimated that 5%
of adults, globally, suffer from depression.
According to the DSM-5, symptoms can include a change in appetite, having sleep
problems, fatigue, loss of interest or pleasure in activities or suicidal thoughts (American
Psychiatric Association, 2014; Torres, 2020;). Diagnosis for depression must involve five or
more of the symptoms which have lasted for two weeks; with at least one symptom being (1)
depressed mood or (2) loss in interest or pleasure (American Psychiatric Association, 2014).
There are many types of depression, such as (1) Major depressive disorder, (2) bipolar
disorder, (3) Depression with anxiety (American Psychiatric Association, 2014).
Furthermore, the severity of depression can range from mild to severe and individuals can
experience a single episode or recurrent episodes.
Depression can be explained through biological, cognitive and behavioural
approaches. Therefore, various risk factors can influence depression. This includes:
(1) Their biochemistry, (2) Genetics (Northoff, 2013), (3) Personality (Allen et al.,
2017) and (4) Environmental factors.
(Torres, 2020)
For example, there is a 70% chance one twin has MDD if the other is diagnosed with
MDD and individuals with low self-esteem are more likely to have depression (Torres, 2020).
Main Argument 1:
, For this coursework, I will be discussing cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) to treat
depression and its advantages and disadvantages.
Firstly, CBT is a form of psychological treatment focusing on changing an
individual’s thought and behavioural pattern (American Psychological Association, 2017),
which assumes that faulty thinking patterns cause maladaptive behaviours. CBT involves
helping individuals recognise their negative thoughts and to use problem-solving techniques
to cope (American Psychological Association, 2017; Torres, 2020), this is also known as
cognitive restructuring. Treatment for each individual will differ as the client and therapist
will have to work together to find the best suitable method. Other strategies can also include
goal-setting, journaling, role-playing and so on.
Ellis (1957) suggested how irrational beliefs can form through the ABC model. The A
stands for Activating Event, B for beliefs and C for consequence. It is how the individual
interprets the event which may lead them to have an irrational belief. For example, if you
made a mistake during a presentation, you may feel embarrassed and think everyone will
make fun of you, thereby forming an irrational belief.
Similarly, Beck (1967) developed the Cognitive Triad of negative thinking, which
are: having a negative view of yourself; a negative view of the future then having a negative
view of the world. As a result, it interferes with cognitive processing and their behaviour.
For both theories, CBT will aim to challenge an irrational belief or negative thought,
allowing individuals to recognise the thought process and turn it into more positive and
rational views.
Main Argument 2:
CBT is an evidence-based treatment, which has proven to be effective (Hofmann et
al., 2012; Oud et al., 2019)
