Psychology 351: Depression

General description of the disorder

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder that affects a broad range of individuals including children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. According to Sharp and Lipsky (2002), depression “manifests as a combination of feelings of sadness, loneliness, irritability, worthlessness, hopelessness, agitation, and guilt, accompanied by an array of physical symptoms.” A combination of these feelings can often be overwhelming and cause a negative impact on a person’s life. A physician must diagnose depression although there are several forms of tests and screenings used to aid in this process. Individuals suffering from depression often seek help and it can be treated with the help of pharmacotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic modalities (Sharp & Lipsky, 2002).

General description of the personality approach

The cognitive approach to personality “explains the differences in personality as differences in the way people process information.” (Burger, 2008, p. 428) An important psychologist in this field of study is George Kelly. Kelly is known for the creation of the personal construct theory. A person’s personal construct is defined as the basic unit of an individual’s cognitive, or mental, activity and is used to interpret and predict events. Each construct, or bipolar adjective such as short vs. tall, is unique to each individual. Therefore, each individual interprets the same experiences and situations in a different way. Our behaviors are based on how we “construe” the world around us.

In addition, “each of us possesses a different set of mental representations” (Burger, 2008, p. 434). This is seen when looking at the different approaches within the cognitive approach: prototype and schema. In the prototype approach, each individual possess a mental model that they categorize objects and people into. Not every person will possess the same categories or prototypes. In turn, this leads to different patters of behavior....