ABSTRACT
The baneful consequences of this continued neglect of the “fundamental fact” of consciousness have been more evident in the field of biological psychiatry than in cognitive neuroscience in general. This chapter shows the principles with reference to a particular problem in modern psychiatry. The separation-distress system, which is greatly sensitized by the hormonal and peptide releases that precede childbirth and facilitate maternal care, developed early in mammalian evolution. This is why the mechanisms that mediate attachment and separation are much more sensitive in females— who are more than twice as likely as males to suffer from depression. Psychoanalytic investigations reveal that depression also entails feelings of rage, apparently inwardly-directed but originally directed toward external objects. From the affective-neuroscience standpoint, this is probably due to frustrations of seeking desires, which normally elicit RAGE responses. The RAGE response in depression, however, seems to be inhibited, or even internalized.
