Comments on: An Implausible Function For Depression http://popsych.org/an-implausible-function-for-depression/ The Internet's Best Evolutionary Psycholo-guy Wed, 03 Jan 2018 01:05:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Jesse Marczyk http://popsych.org/an-implausible-function-for-depression/#comment-708 Jesse Marczyk Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:04:13 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=1755#comment-708 You wouldn't be the first to have suggested such an idea. It would, however, still leave issues like the suicidal thoughts or behaviors that accompany depression relatively unexplained. The same goes for the frequent loss of appetite. There's a difference between conservation and a lack of self-care. The thinking about social capital is good, though it would require a measure of social capital which is probably very difficult to come by. Further, once you have the measure, depression should only really be likely to strike those who have little of it. You wouldn’t be the first to have suggested such an idea. It would, however, still leave issues like the suicidal thoughts or behaviors that accompany depression relatively unexplained. The same goes for the frequent loss of appetite. There’s a difference between conservation and a lack of self-care. The thinking about social capital is good, though it would require a measure of social capital which is probably very difficult to come by. Further, once you have the measure, depression should only really be likely to strike those who have little of it.

]]> By: Rasputin http://popsych.org/an-implausible-function-for-depression/#comment-703 Rasputin Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:42:46 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=1755#comment-703 My, completely lacking in scientific basis, view of depression is that it's sort of a general energy-saving mechanism that also gets co-opted into making sure that low status individuals don't make any dangerous in-group moves they lack the social capital to have a decent chance of getting away with. The nice thing about this is that it fits pretty well with people in general, and Scandinavians in particular (?) being more depressed in the winter than the summer and Africans generally not being very depressed at all, despite having plenty of things to be unhappy about. In Africa there's not the same scarcity-abundancy cycle of energy availability and generally those societies are much more winner-takes-all than Scandinavian. So the Scandinavian environment selects for people who calm down when food is scarce and has decent pay-offs for males who are mediocre and willing to submit to authority, whereas Africa selects for being active and some pretty "lively" intra-male competition. Conversely I'd expect mania-esque traits to follow the reverse pattern. That is, it being more prevalent among high-status individuals and more likely to happen when there's lots of sun. Anyway, I have no idea how realistic the idea is, or if there's evidence for or against. The bargaining idea doesn't seem bad, but it doesn't really account for lonely people being depressed. If there's no one around to see you being miserable there doesn't seem to be much point in being miserable. My, completely lacking in scientific basis, view of depression is that it’s sort of a general energy-saving mechanism that also gets co-opted into making sure that low status individuals don’t make any dangerous in-group moves they lack the social capital to have a decent chance of getting away with.

The nice thing about this is that it fits pretty well with people in general, and Scandinavians in particular (?) being more depressed in the winter than the summer and Africans generally not being very depressed at all, despite having plenty of things to be unhappy about. In Africa there’s not the same scarcity-abundancy cycle of energy availability and generally those societies are much more winner-takes-all than Scandinavian. So the Scandinavian environment selects for people who calm down when food is scarce and has decent pay-offs for males who are mediocre and willing to submit to authority, whereas Africa selects for being active and some pretty “lively” intra-male competition.

Conversely I’d expect mania-esque traits to follow the reverse pattern. That is, it being more prevalent among high-status individuals and more likely to happen when there’s lots of sun.

Anyway, I have no idea how realistic the idea is, or if there’s evidence for or against.

The bargaining idea doesn’t seem bad, but it doesn’t really account for lonely people being depressed. If there’s no one around to see you being miserable there doesn’t seem to be much point in being miserable.

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