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September 1, 2009

The Origins of Depression

Depression is the most common disorder in the world and can happen to anyone. It's not a sign of a character weakness or something a person can just "snap out of."

In any given year, about 12 million adults in the United States have depression. Depression cuts across all racial, ethnic and economic divides — no one is immune from the risk of getting depression.

Scientists wonder why depression is so prevalent in our species. Something so biochemically "wrong" had to have followed us from generation to generation for a reason. They suspect that depression is a type of adaptation that serves a useful purpose rather than a malfunction. Depressed people tend to ruminators that are analytical thinkers, a perfect strategy for solving complex problems. Analytical thinkers break problems down into smaller components that are easier to solve. This requires uninterrupted thought.

Many other symptoms of depression make sense in light of the idea that analysis must be uninterrupted. The desire for social isolation, for instance, helps the depressed person avoid situations that would require thinking about other things.

So, if we view depression as nature's way of signaling that we have a complex social problem to solve, as the scientists suggest, then therapy encouraging a certain amount of uninterrupted rumination may solve the problems that trigger a person's depression without the use of drugs. Of course, long-term protracted depression is a problem, and a life-threatening one, at that. If you believe you or a loved one is experiencing depression, it's good to know the warning signs. There is also a quiz available to help determine your risk for depression.

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Posted by linda at September 1, 2009 4:42 PM