Skip to content
  • Donate Now
  • Seeking Treatment?
  • Cart
  • Account
  • Cart
  • Account
Beck Institute
  • CBT & CT-R Training
    • Training for Organizations
    • Training for Professionals
    • Center for CT-R
    • Full Training Catalog
    • Supervision
    • Consultation
    • On-Demand Training
    • Discounts, Financial Aid, and Scholarships
    • Continuing Education
  • Certification
    • Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician (BICBT-CC)
    • Beck Institute CBT Certified Master Clinician (BICBT-CMC)
    • Beck Institute CBT Certified Supervisor (BICBT-CS)
    • Work Sample
  • CBT & CT-R Resources
    • Beck Institute Newsletter
    • CBT Insights Blog
    • Resources for Professionals and Students
    • Resources for Non-Professionals
    • International Resources
    • Emergency Response Resources
    • FAQs
  • About Us
    • History of Beck Institute
    • Understanding CBT
    • Our Team
    • Dr. Aaron T. Beck
    • Dr. Judith S. Beck
    • Employment Opportunities
    • The Beck Institute Clinic
    • Press Room
  • Therapy & Coaching Services
    • Beck Institute Clinic
    • Beck Institute Weight Management
  • My Account
    • My Certification
    • My Training
  • CBT & CT-R Training
    • Training for Organizations
    • Training for Professionals
    • Center for CT-R
    • Full Training Catalog
    • Supervision
    • Consultation
    • On-Demand Training
    • Discounts, Financial Aid, and Scholarships
    • Continuing Education
    • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
    • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
  • Certification
    • Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician (BICBT-CC)
    • Beck Institute CBT Certified Master Clinician (BICBT-CMC)
    • Beck Institute CBT Certified Supervisor (BICBT-CS)
    • Work Sample
    • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
    • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
  • CBT & CT-R Resources
    • Beck Institute Newsletter
    • CBT Insights Blog
    • Resources for Professionals and Students
    • Resources for Non-Professionals
    • International Resources
    • Emergency Response Resources
    • FAQs
    • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
    • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
  • About Us
    • History of Beck Institute
    • Understanding CBT
    • Our Team
    • Dr. Aaron T. Beck
    • Dr. Judith S. Beck
    • Employment Opportunities
    • The Beck Institute Clinic
    • Press Room
    • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
    • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
  • Therapy & Coaching Services
    • Beck Institute Clinic
    • Beck Institute Weight Management
    • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
    • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
  • My Account
    • My Certification
    • My Training
    • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
    • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
  • Donate Now Seeking Treatment?
  • fab fa-facebook fab fa-linkedin-in fab fa-x-twitter fab fa-youtube
Home CBT Insights A Unified Model of Depression: Integrating Clinical, Cognitive, Biological, and Evolutionary Perspectives
  • Aaron T. Beck

A Unified Model of Depression: Integrating Clinical, Cognitive, Biological, and Evolutionary Perspectives

June 8, 2021 / by Hallie Grossman
Categories: Aaron T. Beck All Conditions Depression

Browse by Topic


  • Everything
  • Aaron T. Beck
  • ADHD
  • All Conditions
  • Anger
  • Anorexia
  • Anxiety and Panic Disorders
  • Beck Announcements
  • Beck in the News
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Bulimia
  • CBT Certification
  • CBT Training
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Chronic Pain
  • CT-R
  • Depression
  • Digestive Issues
  • Emotional Disorders
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Impact of CBT
  • Insomnia
  • Judith S. Beck
  • Migraines
  • Newsroom
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
  • Other
  • Panic Disorder
  • Personality Disorders
  • Practitioner Tips
  • PTSD
  • Relationship Problems
  • Schizophrenia
  • Sexual Dysfunctions
  • Social Phobia
  • Substance Use Disorders
  • Success Stories
  • Suicide
  • Training for Organizations
  • Weight Management

A Unified Model of Depression: Integrating Clinical, Cognitive, Biological, and Evolutionary Perspectives

Aaron T. Beck and Keith Bredemeier  –  Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania

ATB Headshot

Abstract

We propose that depression can be viewed as an adaptation to conserve energy after the perceived loss of an investment in a vital resource such as a relationship, group identity, or personal asset. Tendencies to process information negatively and experience strong biological reactions to stress (resulting from genes, trauma, or both) can lead to depressogenic beliefs about the self, world, and future. These tendencies are mediated by alterations in brain areas/networks involved in cognition and emotion regulation. Depressogenic beliefs predispose individuals to make cognitive appraisals that amplify perceptions of loss, typically in response to stressors that impact available resources. Clinical features of severe depression (e.g., anhedonia, anergia) result from these appraisals and biological reactions that they trigger (e.g., autonomic, immune, neurochemical). These symptoms were presumably adaptive in our evolutionary history, but are maladaptive in contemporary times. Thus, severe depression can be considered an anachronistic manifestation of an evolutionarily based “program.”

Read The Full Article
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
CBT for comorbid migraine and/or tension-type headache and major depressive disorder: An exploratory randomized controlled trial
NEXT ARTICLE
Cognitive Therapy: A New Focus
Sign Up for
Our Newsletter

View a sample newsletter



Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy
One Belmont Avenue, Suite 503 Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-1610 +1 (610) 664-3020 help@beckinstitute.org Contact Us
© 2025 Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Refund and Cancellation Policy
  • Permission to Use Beck Institute Materials
  • Sitemap
  • fab fa-facebook
  • fab fa-linkedin-in
  • fab fa-x-twitter
  • fab fa-youtube
Beck Institute Cares