Psychological disorders are caused by
faulty or irrational thoughts or perceptions.
A person can overcome their disorder by replacing
their ‘faulty’ thoughts with more realistic ones.
Therapists are useful in helping patients
to replace their faulty thoughts.
2) Explanation
Faulty thoughts or perceptions are the basis
of psychological disorder. The cognitive
psychologist would explain depression in
terms of an overly pessimistic outlook on life.
Becks (1967)
Describes the ‘cognitive triad’ in which
a depressed patient has a negative view
of themselves, the world and the future.
Ellis ABC Model
A
Activating
agent (for
example a
spider)
B
Belief: (can be
rational) Spider is
harmless (or irrational)
spider is a threat
C
Consequence (which
can be healthy)
ignore spider (or
unhealthy) anxiety
Successes
Most successful in explaining and treating
anxiety disorders such as phobias and
stress due to irrational thinking and in
explaining and treating depression
because of the negative thinking.
Anxiety
Newmark et al
(1973)
Found that patients suffering clinical
anxiety were far more likely to
suffer from negative self image.
The triad, biases
and schemas
Evaluation
Lewinsohn et al
(2003)
Followed a group of teenagers who had
developed a negative pattern of thinking. A
year later they were far more likely than a
control group to have developed major
depression. This would seem to suggest that
the negative thinking is causing the
depression as the cognitive model suggests.
Genetic factors are not considered even though
we know there appears to be a genetic
component to most psychological disorders most
prominent with bipolar (or manic) depression.