IndexIntroductionBodyConclusionIntroductionMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a psychological condition that has a negative impact on people's emotional state and their behavior (Its Psychology, 2019). Signs and symptoms include low and depressed mood almost every day, low self-esteem, tiredness, lack of energy and enthusiasm to do anything, including favorite activities. The cognitive approach, developed by Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, explains depression through the idea that our internal processes influence our behavior, therefore an individual with depressed behavior is controlled by his or her irrational thinking. Beck and Ellis use other theories to demonstrate this such as the Cognitive Theory (1967), the ABC Model (1957) and the Cognitive Triad (1976) which have led to the creation of several treatments. One of the many treatments used regularly is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The therapy involves a therapist listening to the client's thoughts, working to challenge and change their irrational thoughts with alternative beliefs, to eliminate them. Research has been conducted to find out whether this treatment is an effective method for treating major depressive disorder and to find out its limitations and this will be discussed in this essay. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Body A person may suffer from depression; after experiencing a traumatic event such as the loss of a loved one, some suggest through genetics (chemical imbalance in the brain) or through personality traits. The cognitive explanation of depression focuses on internal processes and focuses on irrational thinking that leads to a negative effect on behavior. Albert Ellis was a psychologist who created the ABC model to provide insight into how depressed people behave and suggested that their irrational thoughts are triggered by external events and our beliefs therefore infer how we feel about the given situation (Katsikis, Kostogiannis & Dryden 2016). . One in the ABC model represents the triggering negative event, such as a breakup. B in the mind of a depressed person is his or her irrational belief system. In this example, the belief is that because they have gone through a breakup, they are no longer good enough for another relationship. C represents an unhealthy negative emotion and the consequences of their irrational belief; feeling of uselessness. If this process continues in the individual, it can lead to depression (Murguia & Díaz 2015). Psychiatrist Aaron Beck's cognitive theory states that depression is caused by one's beliefs, rather than negative self-perceptions being caused by depression. These dysfunctional beliefs are formed from early life experiences and become negative automatic thoughts and responses, so the problem is how the person perceives situations, rather than the situation itself (Lemoult & Gotlib, 2019). Negative thoughts originate from patterns. Schemas are stored and organized mental representations of long-term memories, information and experiences all linked together, creating a network to help interpret new incoming information which in turn impacts cognitive processing. People with negative schemas of major depressive disorder become activated whenever they encounter a new situation that resembles a novel experience, causing their minds to restart the same thought process that leads to irrational beliefs (Orue, Calvete & Padilla 2014) . Furthermore, Beck stated that cognitive distortions are involved in the acquisition ofdepression; distortions are prejudices that highlight the vulnerable factors of minds to depression (Dhanalakshmi, D. 2014). These include dichotomous reasoning (the individual thinks that if he or she can't achieve a certain task then there is no point in trying), selective abstraction (remembering only the bad parts of an event), and overgeneralization (remembering only the bad parts negative of an event) conclusions are drawn on the basis of a negative event) (Rnic, Dozois & Martin, 2016). Aaron Beck further developed his theory by creating the Cognitive Triad, a mechanism that shows the three forms of negative thinking, representative of those with major depressive disorder. One point of the triad is negative opinions about the world, the second is negative opinions about oneself, and finally negative opinions about the future. Beck believes that thoughts are formed early in life and could trigger underlying assumptions by experiencing trauma. This causes future information to be processed in a negative light. From the cognitive approach to depression, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was formed as a treatment for the disorder. CBT aims to challenge the client's negative assumptions about themselves and the events they have experienced and transform them into positive, realistic thoughts and attempts to address the underlying cognitions causing the depressive behavior. Part of a patient's thinking process is rumination. Rumination is a repetitive and deep reflection on the same thought, event, or problem (Elizabeth J. Lewis & Jutta Joorman, 2018). CBT aims to eliminate this as it repeats irrational thinking in an unhealthy amount. Beyond that, the therapist examines how the patient thinks and feels about a past event and how it affected them (Kendra Cherry, 2019). CBT provides tools that the patient can use outside of therapy such as a diary, activity planning, and activity planning to prevent relapses from occurring. One study used blood biomarkers to measure whether CBT was effective in a sample of 44 participants with major depressive disorder and 30 healthy participants and found that a positive mood change occurred after a CBT session (Keri, Szabolcs, Szabo, Csilla and Kelemen, Oguz, 2014). While this indicates the efficiency of CBT, only 44 participants were used, so it may not represent the entire target population of those with major depressive disorder. Furthermore, another study demonstrates how other studies have been conducted, demonstrating that CBT reduces rumination and how it also reduces post-event processing (Price & Anderson 2011). Although the study produced positive results, as it focused on social anxiety, the effect of CBT on depression may differ and have less of an impact. In addition to this, a study was conducted that modified CBT to be focused on rumination, producing positive results that CBT can help reduce rates of rumination and depressive symptoms, suggesting that focused CBT is more effective of general CBT (Watkins et al., 2007, Watkins et al., 2011). Furthermore, some studies have shown that CBT is effective but becomes even more effective if extended to, for example, mindfulness. One study found that depressive symptoms and relapse rates decreased with the use of mindfulness incorporated into CBT, meaning that CBT may have restrictions on how much it can do for a depressed person (Dimidjian, Kleiber & Segal, 2010). A meta-analysis was carried out by Gloaguen et al (1998) uncovering the idea that CBT had a much greater impact than the antidepressant and placebo control groups, arguing that the treatment actually worked.