Briar Basics: Understanding Depression from the Cognitive Lens

The Cognitive Triad and Common Maintenance Cycles of Depression

The Depressive Cognitive Triad

The depressive cognitive triad represents a pattern of negative thinking typical of those living with depression. This pattern of negative thinking involves negative thoughts about oneself, others/the world, and the future. The negative thoughts about oneself often revolve around guilt, blame, and self-criticism. The negative thoughts about others/the world tend to involve selective attention to the negative and a projection of negativity onto situations and experiences (both past and present). The negative thoughts about the future are frequently expressions of pessimism and hopelessness.

The Common Maintenance Processes for Depression

There are some common maintenance cycles for depression. Maintenance cycles refer to how the experience itself is maintained, and these cycles show us the ways in which we fall into patterns that allow our low mood to produce effects thats ultimately make out low mood worse.

A common maintenance cycle would be a low mood, which produces negative cognitions, which fuels a negative perception of self, which in turn maintains the low mood.

Another common cycle may see those negative cognitions result in reduced activity, meaning that activities that brought joy and pleasure are lost, and this absence of positive activities can further maintain low mood.

Negative cognitions can also result in the reduction of attempts to cope and problem solve, which can create a sense of hopelessness that maintains a depressed mood.

These cycles are common in depressed people but do not represent all possible maintenance cycles. Some common elements seen in the maintenance cycles of depressed people include negative automatic thinking, mood/emotion, rumination/self-attack, withdrawal/avoidance, motivation/physical symptoms, and unhelpful behaviours.

Reference:

Kennerley, H., Kirk, J., & Westbrook, D. (2017). An introduction to cognitive behaviour therapy: Skills and applications (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.