November 2016

Hopelessness theory of depression.

The  common-language term hopelessness captures the two core elements  of this proximal sufficient cause; (a) negative expectations  about the occurrence of highly valued outcomes (a negative  outcome expectancy), and (b) expectations of helplessness  about changing the likelihood of occurrence of these outcomes  (a helplessness expectancy).

Gotlib, Ian H.; Hammen, Constance L. (Eds.) (2014): Handbook of depression. Third edition. New York: The Guilford Press.

Different cultures have similar sayings describing an alcoholic’s “logic”. For example, a Japanese saying has it “An alcoholic will drink because the sun sets. He will also drink for the sun rises." An example of paralogism I found in the book Twerski, Abraham J. (1997): Addictive thinking. Understanding the addictive process and compulsive behavior.

Diathesis stress component

Individuals who exhibit the hypothesized depressogenic attributional  style should be more likely than individuals who do  not to attribute any particular negative event to a stable, global  cause and view the event as very important, thereby incrementing  the likelihood of becoming hopeless and, in turn, developing  the symptoms of hopelessness depression. However, in the presence  of positive life events or in the absence of negative life  events, people who exhibit the hypothesized depressogenic attributional  style should be no more likely to develop hopelessness,  and therefore the symptoms of hopelessness depression,  than people who do not exhibit this attributional style. 

Abramson, Lyn Y., Gerald I. Metalsky, and Lauren B. Alloy. 1989. “Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression.” Psychological review 96 (2): 358 -- 372.