Support for the role of irrational thinking
Type: Limitation
Study: Hammen and Krantz (1976)
- Found that depressed participants made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material than non-depressed participants
- Although the link does not mean that negative thoughts cause depression
- Someone may become depressed and then develop a negative thinking
- Therefore, irrational thinking may be the result of depression
Responsibility with the client rather than situational factors
Type: Strength
- Suggests the client is responsible for the disorder
- Gives the client the power to change though changing their irrational beliefs/negative schema
- However, this can also be seen as a limitation
- It may lead the client or therapist to overlook situational factors as it may not consider how life events/family problems may have contributed to the disorder
- Because the cognitive approach views the problem within the client’s mind and as a result of their negative thinking
Practical applications in therapy
Type: Strength
- Can be applied to CBT
- CBT is consistently found to be the best treatment for depression, especially alongside drug treatment
- CBT attempts to tackle irrational thoughts in the patient
- Therefore, if CBT is successful - it suggests that irrational thoughts played a role in the depression in the first place
’Irrational’ beliefs may be realistic
Type: Limitation
Study: Alloy and Abrahmson (1979)
- Suggests that those with depression are realists and tend to see things for what they are
- Therefore it is not the depressed individuals who have unrealistic and irrational thoughts
- Means that some ‘irrational’ beliefs may simply seem irrational by others rather than actually being irrational
Alternative explanations
Type: Limitation
Study: Zhang et al. (2005)
- Found low levels of neurotransmitter serotonin in depressed people
- Also found a gene related to this, 10x more common in people with depression
- Suggested that levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain may lead to irrational thinking which may lead to depression
- Drugs that help regulate the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain have been successful in treating depression
- Suggests that the biological explanation for depression should not be ignored and the cognitive explanation of depression is incomplete as it ignores biological factors