Cause of Depression by Aaron Beck

Aaron Beck and His Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

For many years before Aaron Beck developed his Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Freud’s concept of psychodynamics held sway. It’s based on a person’s re-actions to his or her environment and their genetic make-up.

Beck tired of this long held view, and in 1967 in his paper, ‘Depression. Causes and Treatment,’ first came to describe his theory of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

At about the same time, another eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Albert Ellis was working with his Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. In the year 2000, both great men met for the first time, and decided that both their approaches were similar in many ways. Naturally enough, they then went on to point out the many differences that they saw in each other’s work!

At the 110th. Convention of the American Psychological Association at Chicago, held on August 22nd. to the 25th. 2002, the great minds met again and delved far more deeply, yet always good naturedly, into their individual approaches. To discuss their arguments in any detail would require a book-length report, so suffice to say that we’ll stick to Beck because in my own personal view, he does tend to make more sense.

This is in no way to criticize Dr. Ellis. Apart from anything else, he knows a great deal more than I do! However, I relate better to Beck and understand from whence he comes.

He writes of what he calls the Negative Cognitive Triad. 1. I’m inadequate. 2. Everything I try turns into failure or defeat. 3. What’s the point of trying again? The future’s hopeless.

The theory behind Cognitive Behavior is that it’s learned as a child, or at least by adolescence. Children who live with a dysfunctional family are most liable to acquire this method of depressive thought. Also, those who are continually being ‘put down’ come to look upon their actions as sub-standard and any future efforts as pointless.

I read one report that stated how depressed people think differently to those who aren’t depressed. That’s a bit like saying that a car runs better on tyres which are properly inflated than it does on tyres which are flat! I’m sure the statement wasn’t meant to be read in this way. More likely, those who have depressed tendencies think differently to those who don’t.

The whole idea that Dr. Beck espouses is that those who do think of themselves as inferior must be taught to change their thinking. This makes eminently good sense to me. Simply giving a person a pill that will lift the symptoms of Depression is fine, but that person must keep on taking a pill a day. How much better it is if they’re taught to turn their thinking around, so that instead of believing the worst of themselves, at least they come to consider that they’re as good as anyone else.

Beck states that if your thoughts are negative in nature, then you’re setting yourself up for clinical depression. It’s like two men losing their jobs from the same company. Both have seen the cutbacks going on, the fact that the firm’s been losing money and that people have been leaving.

Mr. ‘A’ finally receives his pink slip and isn’t very surprised. He’s taken all the warning signs into consideration. Mr. ‘B’, however, is convinced that it’s his fault he’s no longer employed. Obviously, he thinks to himself, I’ve done something wrong.

Mr. ‘A’ goes straight out the following day to look for another job, while Mr. ‘B’ tends to sit at home because he can’t see any point. Even if he does find another job, he’ll only mess it up as he’s sure he did the last one.

I’m in no doubt that Dr. Beck’s theory of turning someone’s thinking around is by far the best treatment for full blown depression. If it’s caught in the early stages, of course, then so very much the better.

Author: Mike Bond

Mike Bond discussing depression again, this time through the lens of Dr. Beck, the father of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This, he feels, is by far the best treatment. Go to Mike’s site and read about his own experiences with depression and other conditions

http://www.panattack.com

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