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23
Sep 21

COVID-19 & Hoplessness

The COVID-19 pandemic led to over 600,000 deaths in the US alone but those will not be the only ones to suffer from COVID (Covid Data Tracker Weekly Review). In the midst of the pandemic, individuals found themselves in isolation and weeks turned into months of social distancing. Suggestions and data from the government seemed to change every week. Many lost their jobs. Financial insecurity, health issues and an uncertain future make a perfect recipe for hopelessness that leads to depression.

According to the Hopelessness Theory (HDT), “positive life events and self-enhancing attributions are believed to combine to promote the growth of hopefullness (Gruman, Jamie., et all., 2017). Since no one knows what to expect in this new world, it’s easy to see why so many people may find themselves hopeless. The HDT suggests that focusing on hope and envisioning a bright future is the best way to prevent depression (Gruman, Jamie., et all., 2017). How can we be more hopeful when the future seems so bleak?

We see the example of combined skill acquisition and cognitive restructuring in the Penn Resiliency model in which at risk middle schoolers were not only taught how to focus on the positive, but also learned skills such as emotional control, relaxation, assertiveness, negotiation, and avoiding procrastination (Gruman, Jamie., et all., 2017). The children who went through this program were not as likely to have depressive symptoms.

In the midst of uncertainty, it’s important to focus on the self-enhancing attributions and to try and focus on the positive effects of social distancing efforts. When the pandemic started, social media seemed to blow up with people taking on special projects or learning something new – such as the sourdough bread phenomenon which ultimately caused a flour shortage. To stay mentally healthy, most of the people I know took up a project or a new hobby. However, I also saw many spend too much time on social media and grow irrationally upset and angry at almost everyone they knew. Those who were on social media saw endless negative news headlines as well as arguments about divisive issues, making it hard to focus on a positive framework.

After experiencing COVID, we see how focusing on the positive can get us through almost anything. When everything seems out of control, focus on what you can control and make small, attainable goals for yourself! We have been through so much together already and we are almost through. Be well!

 

Works Cited:

Collier, Stephanie. “Could Covid-19 Infection Be Responsible for Your Depressed Mood or Anxiety?” Harvard Health Publishing – Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publishing, 25 May 2021, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/could-covid-19-infection-be-responsible-for-your-depressed-mood-or-anxiety-2021041922391.

“Covid Data Tracker Weekly Review.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html.

Gruman, Jamie A., et al. Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. SAGE, 2017.

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10
Feb 19

Is Hopelessness Depression Hopeless?

This week’s assigned readings included chapter 5 in Applied Social Psychology, Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems, by Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts. After reading the assigned chapter called “Applying Social Psychology to Clinical and Counseling Psychology”, I became interested in Abramson, Metalky, and Alloy’s hopelessness theory of depression. Specifically, I wanted to understand the hopelessness theory of depression, what could cause hopelessness depression, and what kind of treatment could be affective for a person with hopelessness depression.

The hopelessness theory of depression states that depressive symptoms are most likely to occur when a vulnerable person experiences negative environmental circumstances (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). This being said, it is important to note that the hopelessness theory of depression specifies that these two factors (vulnerability and negative environmental circumstance) occur simultaneously (Schneider et al., 2012). Schneider et al. (2012) state that a person is deemed vulnerable if they interpret the cause of negative events as something that cannot be changed (stable attribution) and affecting their whole life (global attribution), otherwise known as the pessimistic explanatory style. According to Schneider et al. (2012), a person with these specific traits could be described as having a specific type of depression, called hopelessness depression.

Just while reading the definition of the hopelessness theory of depression it became clear to me that a cause of hopelessness depression could be cognitive distortions, which are defined as thinking errors that are negatively bias that can increase one’s vulnerability to depression (Rnic, Dozois, & Martin, 2016). I am under the impression that someone with hopelessness depression suffers from the following cognitive distortions:

  • All-or-nothing thinking: “If a situation falls short of perfect, you see it as a total failure” (Burns, 1989)
  • Over generalization: “You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat” (Burns, 1989)
  • Mental filter: “You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively, so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened” (Burns, 1989)
  • Discounting the positive: “If you do a good job, you may tell yourself that it wasn’t good enough or that anyone could have done as well” (Burns, 1989)
  • Jumping to conclusions: “You interpret things negatively when there are no facts to support your conclusion” (Burns, 1989)
  • Magnification: “You exaggerate the importance of your problems and shortcomings, or you minimize the importance of your desirable qualities” (Burns, 1989)

Hopelessness depression seems, well…hopeless, doesn’t it? Is it hopeless to think a person with hopelessness depression could find relief? My answer is no, it is not hopeless. Fixing cognitive distortions like the ones I listed above is a key to treating hopelessness depression. But how does one change distorted thinking? My answer: Cognitive behavioral therapy, which the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists defines as a therapy that stresses the importance of thinking about what we do and how we feel (“What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy”, 2016).

With the application of the hopelessness theory of depression, a counseling psychologist could practice cognitive behavioral therapy with a patient who has hopelessness depression stemming from cognitive distortions. A counseling psychologist could help their patient recognize their patterns of distorted thinking (vulnerabilities, per the hopelessness theory of depression), show them how they are not valid, and how to work through them when they come up. A counseling psychologist could also help their patient look at a specific negative event (a factor of the hopelessness theory of depression) in a healthy, realistic way.

Through my interest of the hopelessness theory of depression, I not only learned what the hopelessness theory of depression entails, but what could cause hopelessness depression, and what kind of treatment could be affective for a person with hopelessness depression. The hopelessness theory of depression relies on the idea that together, vulnerability and negative environmental circumstances can lead to hopelessness depression. From my research, I am under the impression that cognitive distortions are a cause of hopelessness depression but can be treated through cognitive behavioral therapy. Simply stated, hopelessness depression is not hopeless.

 

References:

Burns, David. (1989). Patterns of Cognitive Distortions. Retrieved from:  http://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/curriculum/313_MngngImpctTrmtcStrssChldWlfrPrfssnl/hnd

Rnic, K., Dozois, D. J., & Martin, R. A. (2016). Cognitive Distortions, Humor Styles, and Depression. Europe’s journal of psychology, 12(3), 348-62. doi:10.5964/ejop.v12i3.1118

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2012). Applied Social Psychology. Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. (2016). Retrieved from:  http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt-htm/

 

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07
Oct 16

The Rejection: Hopelessness Theory of Depression

I’d like to use a case example to illustrate the hopelessness theory of depression in this blog post.

A 25-year-old man who had trained for years in animation and game design received admission to a Canadian university for a course in game design. He applied for a student visa to Canada, and settled in to wait for his paperwork to be processed. He bought his flight tickets and started to look for places to stay in Toronto, where he would be studying. The weeks passed, and his course start date came and went, but his visa didn’t come through. He went repeatedly to the consulate office to ask for expedition of the process, but got no answers. Thoroughly frustrated, he delayed his flight tickets twice, and still didn’t get his visa. Finally, he got his passport back in the mail. There was no visa stamp in his passport. His application had been rejected.

Thus ensued a period of major depression for this young man. He had applied for loans, bought flight tickets, and paid his tuition fees to the university. He was set to lose a large sum of money, and he had no backup plan of action. No job, no money, and seemingly, no future. He was in a situation where he felt he had no control over his future outcome. He had experienced a huge setback.

This life experience, wherein he had experienced such an unpredictable and uncontrollable setback, made the man feel thoroughly helpless, and as per Seligman’s (1975) learned helplessness model of depression, the man gave up his efforts to cope. Instead of looking for other options like a job in his hometown or further developing his portfolio, the man lay in bed and grew increasingly depressed.

Abramson, Seligman, and Teasdale (1978) proposed the attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness model of depression, which suggested that depression was caused by pessimistic attributions on the part of the person, leading to a negative outcome expectancy, that is, helplessness. The man believed that his visa was rejected because he was simply no good, had no luck, and was not meant to succeed in life. This belief was an internal, stable, and global attribution—the man believed that nothing would ever go well in life again, and that this setback was proof of his inadequacy.

The hopelessness theory of depression (HTD), as proposed by Abramson, Metalsky, and Alloy (1989), suggests that depression occurs in people with a negative attribution style, known as a pessimistic explanatory style or a depressogenic attribution style. The man believed that the cause of the aversive life event, the visa rejection, was internal (he was not good enough), stable (was absolute and forever-lasting), and global (he had no luck). Hopelessness, as defined as “the expectation that highly desirable outcomes will not occur and that one is powerless to change the situation” (Needles & Abramson, 1990, p. 156), thus set in.

The man began to show signs characteristic of hopelessness depression—low self-esteem, lethargy, and apathy (Abela, Gagnon, & Auerbach, 2007). He became more dependent on people around him, while at the same time attempting to isolate himself. This contradictory behavior naturally did not lead to positive outcomes for him. However, he was lucky enough to have plenty of social support, in the form of friends, who nudged him towards a more positive attribution style—what Needles and Abramson (1990) call an enhancing attribution style. He began to consider his future options in a more positive light. He reevaluated his professional outlook, judged himself to be a skilled animator and designer, and recognized that he had jobs that were open to him. He received a job offer, and he evaluated the cause of this offer in a stable, internal and global way—he was a skilled professional, and he now had a path open for his future. He also decided to reapply for the Canadian student visa, and had hopes for his acceptance.

References

Abela, J. R. Z., Gagnon, H., & Auerbach, R. P. (2007). Hopelessness depression in children: An examination of the symptom component of the hopelessness theory. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 31(3), 401–417.

Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96, 358–372.

Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., & Teasdale, I. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49–74.

Needles, D. J., & Abramson, L. Y. (1990). Positive life events, attributional style, and hopefulness: Testing a model of recovery from depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 156–165.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development and death. San Francisco: Freeman.

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