ABSTRACT

"What I am offering is a critical overview of ideas about depression, some new, some old, which fall under the discipline of 'evolutionary psychology'(EP). Do most types of depression represent an adaptation - an evolved mechanism which has improved our survival and reproductive value in our ancestral environment? Has depression been selected? Coul

chapter Section 1|21 pages

Genes, disease and depression: busting myths

part Section 2|57 pages

The war of depression: an ancient human condition or a modern malaise?

chapter Chapter 1|7 pages

Living on a boat

chapter Chapter 2|8 pages

Why weepest thou?

chapter Chapter 3|17 pages

Is depression universal?

chapter Chapter 4|12 pages

Depression's place in the animal kingdom

chapter Chapter 5|11 pages

Adaptation or fluff?

part Section 3|63 pages

What has depression ever done for us?

chapter Chapter 6|24 pages

Putting on the brakes

chapter Chapter 7|23 pages

Taking stock (the vision quest)

chapter Chapter 8|14 pages

Beneficial by-products

part Section 4|21 pages

Treating depression: new perspectives

chapter Chapter 9|2 pages

The loss of depression's adaptive power?

chapter Chapter 10|17 pages

Should we treat depression?