Credible sadness, coercive sadness: Depression as a functional response to adversity and strife Edward H. Hagen1 Kristen L. Syme1,2 1Department of Anthropology Washington State University 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave, Vancouver, WA, 98686
[email protected] 2Department of Applied and Experimental Psychology Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam the Netherlands
[email protected] In The Oxford Handbook of Evolution and the Emotions, Laith Al-Shawaf and Todd Shackelford, Eds. 1 Abstract Evolutionary medicine offers the insight that many unpleasant conditions such as physical pain are not harmful in themselves but are evolved mechanisms to mitigate harm. A major goal of the field is to distinguish illnesses from aversive conditions that are evolved defenses. There are numerous evolutionary theories of depression, but many fail to account for the central role of conflict and cannot explain suicidality. We review evidence from Western and non-Western societies that depression is caused by adversity, conflict, and powerlessness. The most parsimonious theory is that depression evolved, in part, as a form of psychological pain that functions to mitigate harm, credibly signal need, and coerce help when the powerless are in conflicts with powerful others. Key terms: depression, suicide, mental health, cross-cultural, evolutionary medicine For of men one can, in general, say this: They are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of danger, eager to gain. As long as you serve their interests, they are devoted to you. They promise you their blood, their possessions, their lives, and their children, as I said before, so long as you seem to have no need of them.