ABSTRACT
This chapter describes an on-going debate in psychology about the relationship between cognition and emotion and about the consequences of how they are thought to affect one another. Beck argues that thoughts, feelings and behaviours exert mutual and interacting effects on each other. This pattern of interaction in psychopathology often seems to operate with a ‘vicious cycle’ pattern. In depression, for example, negative thoughts often lead to depressed emotions and withdrawn behaviour. This cycle is unending – withdrawn behaviour gives more time to think negative thoughts which may then deepen the depressed feelings.
