Cognitive and behavioural symptoms of bipolar disorder OR depression

Part 1. Describe cognitive and behavioural symptoms of bipolar disorder OR depression(600 words). In Part 1 of this assignment, you should take care to identify those symptoms which you believe are behavioural and those which pertain to cognitions.

Your markers will look for evidence that you have delineated which represents cognitive symptoms and which are considered behavioural symptoms.

Part 2. Describe and discuss how ‘cognitive theories’ differ from ‘learning (or conditioning) theories’ in their explanation of why symptoms happen in bipolar disorder OR depression. In Part 2 you need to demonstrate your understanding of how two different perspectives account for the symptoms and make clear how they differ.

Your markers will allocate marks to how well you describe the key elements of each theory (remembering that a theory is a foundation for treatment rather than a treatment per se) and marks will be allocated for how well you describe the key differences.

A hint – Cognitive theories focus on faulty thinking patterns and cognitive biases while learning theories focus on the role of environmental factors, such as conditioning and reinforcement.

Note, you can be selective if you like by highlighting that your description will focus on accounts of symptoms X & Y. This will enable you to achieve the depth required in the recommended word count.(600 words)

Part 3. Describe how cognitive behavioural therapy is used to reduce the symptoms of bipolar OR depressive disorder and how it is thought to work.
in Part 3, you need to show your understanding of a particular approach to treatment, what type of symptoms the approach is addressing and how this is carried out to bring change for the client. Your account should be a critical evaluation, in that you attempt to look critically at the research base to provide information about the current evidence base for the treatment.

Carvalho, A. F., Firth, J., & Vieta, E. (2020). Bipolar disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(1), 58-66.

Novick, D. M., & Swartz, H. A. (2019). Evidence-based psychotherapies for bipolar disorder. FOCUS, A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association, 17(3), 238-248.

Otte, C., Gold, S. M., Penninx, B. W., Pariante, C. M., Etkin, A., Fava, M., … & Schatzberg, A. F. (2016). Major depressive disorder. Nature reviews Disease primers, (1), 1-20.

Santoft, F., Axelsson, E., Öst, L. G., Hedman-Lagerlöf, M., Fust, J., & Hedman-Lagerlöf, E. (2019). Cognitive behaviour therapy for depression in primary care: systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological medicine, 49(8), 1266-1274.