Depression has significantly increased in prevalence in recent years. The increase worldwide compared to a decade ago is statistically proven. For example, in the US, the depression rate has risen from 8% ten years ago to 13%. Technological advancements, socio-economic inequalities, and COVID-19 are just some of the factors that have accelerated the spread of depression. In addition, a surprising fact is another undeniable factor triggering this mental disorder: increased awareness and diagnosis. In the 21st century, individuals’ awareness of psychology and mental well-being, and the importance given to mental health alongside physical health by society, has increased the level of consciousness among individuals.
According to DSM-5, some criteria for major depression include: decreased desire and interest, depressed mood, increased or decreased sleep and appetite, psychomotor retardation, and suicidal tendencies. Major depression is not only an emotional but also a cognitive disorder.
Hopelessness And Cognitive Rigidity In Depression
The concept of hopelessness can be considered one of the most active mechanisms in maintaining depression. The concept of cognitive rigidity refers to an individual’s inability to evaluate different perspectives, their lack of cognitive flexibility, and their resistance to change. More simply, it is the individual’s rigid adherence to certain ways of thinking.
Aaron T. Beck argues that negative thought patterns form the basis of depression. He examines these negative thought patterns by dividing them into three subheadings: Self, World, and Future.
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Self: Patterns such as “I am worthless,” “I don’t deserve it,” “I am inadequate,” and “I am not worthy of love.”
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World: Cognitive rigidities such as the belief that the justice system in the world is flawed and that no one is truly well-off.
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Future: Assumptions containing sharp hopelessness, such as the belief that nothing will ever go right and that one will always fail in everything.
According to Beck, the building blocks of depression are the breakdown of these three main beliefs. Subsequently, resistance to changing perspectives—that is, the strong persistence of cognitive rigidity—determines the duration of depression. Beck argues that what creates depression is not the events themselves, but how the individual interprets them.
Schemas And Cognitive Distortions
Negative situations may be interpreted by the individual in an unrealistic way. This situation can make depressive feelings inevitable, painting a picture far more hopeless than reality. One of the most significant factors determining a person’s speed in entering and perspective on feelings of hopelessness is their schemas.
Schemas are rigid beliefs that develop alongside the environment we are exposed to since birth. We perceive, filter, and interpret the events around us according to these schemas. For example, “I am worthless,” “Nobody loves me.” Of course, these schemas are not always negative. “I am worthy of love” is also a schema.
Schemas are not only emotional. Every assumption we create to make sense of and understand the world since the moment we are born is actually a schema. Even statements such as “Boys play with cars, girls play with Barbies,” or “four-legged creatures are animals” can be a person’s schemas. These are neither right nor wrong and are subjective.
Negative schemas, however, constantly filter events negatively. As a result, a person may experience cognitive distortions, such as:
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Overgeneralization: Failure in a single event is interpreted as “It will always be like this; I will always fail.”
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Mental filtering: Constantly focusing on failures while ignoring commendable qualities.
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Catastrophizing: Perceiving events as much larger than they are and treating them as insurmountable instead of creating a solution process.
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Personalization: Believing that one created the beginning or end of every event, reflecting excessive self-blame that does not align with reality.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Breaking The Cycle
Beck argues that the solution process for all these situations and attitudes lies in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Beck’s therapy process consists of several stages. The first step is becoming aware of all these negative thought patterns and schemas. Then, the process continues by showing the person, in simpler terms, the real picture.
By offering a realistic perspective, awareness is created with alternative thoughts. As a result, a change in thinking is expected first, followed by a change in behavior. The way of thinking—one of the fundamental points of the person’s perspective—is central to behavioral change. The person can only escape the cycle of hopelessness they are stuck in by correcting the way they interpret the world and events.
In major depression, a person may reject suggestions from their social environment due to a lack of cognitive flexibility and may even become more isolated by feeling misunderstood. Often, a way out is much faster with professional help.
Conclusion
There are many different ways and forms of therapy to combat depression. The most important way to combat it is not to hesitate to seek help, to encourage those around us to see a mental health professional if possible, and not to perceive this as a weakness.