of ffffs

[maevele]

Depression’s Upside - NYTimes.com


utter codswallop. yeah, depression is actually an asset, a power? efff that

Comments

and furthermore

[eriktrips.livejournal.com]

Oh and also, has anyone considered the possibility that mental illness in general, and depression in particular, are side-effects of the extreme neuroplasticity that makes us able to continue to learn throughout our lives in a way that few other animals do? I think there might be a really complex explanation for how depression is "inherited" that has to do with physiological impressionability, familial culture, societal demands, and a host of other influences on animals with famously fragile nervous systems.

I highly doubt that there is a "depression gene" or that any adaptational advantage gained from any single feature of depression is responsible for its apparent evolutionary success. I suspect that success is only apparent and is the sign of the success of a constellation of neurological structures and functions. I am continually underwhelmed by "scientific" understandings of complexity: shouldn't these people know better?