Cognitive Theory of Depression

The Cognitive Theory of Depression basically states that the causes of depression are the negative view of oneself. They see themselves as worthless, defficient, unlovable and find in themsleves any possible defect. These people feel hopeless and cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel. This hopelessness and misery ultimately leads to depression and in worst cases, to wanding to end your life. There are many different cognitive factors that have been identified in psychology.

These factors are: Self-evaluation in which we evaluate how we manage life taskts and whether we are doing what we should in the way we should and when people are depressed, they tend to blame themselves for everything that is wrong. Identification of Skill Deficits is when we point out our defects and the things we do wrong. People who are depressed have distorted perceptions about what they can't do and they accept the fact that they will never change and become better. Evaluation of Life Experiences occurs in a depressed person in the form of attributing negative thoughs and feeling to what used to be a rather positive events. Self-talk is when we talk to ourselves about the things that happen to us and the different situations we see ourselves in. When this talk is constantly putting you down and being negative, this may lead to depression. Automatic thoughts are self statements and opinions that are mad quickly without realistically evaluating situations. Having these be negative may also lead to a depressed state. Irrational ideas and beliefs, overgeneralizing or catastrophizing, cognitive distortions and pessimistic thinking are also activities that humans perform in their mind which constitute cognitive factors. A combination of these factors create a low self-esteem and a helplessness state that ultimately leads to depression and even suicide.
Source:
http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/cognitive.htm