ADDRESSING EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY & DEPRESSION

     Several years ago a man named Darwin founded the theory of evolution. In his research, he stated that “organisms” inherit physical structures via their parents. However, over the last 10-15 years, researchers have been laying a foundation which explains the theory evolutionary psychology. This states that not only are physical structures inherited but so are several psychological systems and tendencies which include, an individual’s emotions. According to this theory we are also continuously evolving both physically and psychological from the previous living and/or social environments of our ancestors.

The evolutionary psychology model also has a definition that may explain why certain emotional disturbances like depression, can affect so many individuals. Therefore, the goal of this work is to further examine this issue by reviewing how the evolutionary psychology model defines and explains depression, along with whether I agree or disagree with this theoretical belief and/or research finding.

HOW DOES THE EP THEORY DEFINE AND HELP EXPLAIN DEPRESSION?

     According to (Carey, 2005. p. 215), the Evolutionary Psychology model defines depression as  “a species-wide evolved suite of emotional programmes that are mostly activated by a perception, almost always over-negative, of a major decline in personal usefulness, that can sometimes be linked to guilt, shame or perceived rejection.” This means that people can experience depression due to a number of factors which can include psychological and/or physical demands that are not fulfilled. If the individual then begins to believe that he or she is not competent or capable enough to meet and face all of these obligations then negative feelings of self worthlessness could become a symptom. If other negative feelings about ones’ self are combined with self worthlessness, then full blown depression may be the result and/or diagnosis.    

Therefore, this model helps explain that people suffer from depression by conveying that disorders like this usually occur due to an individual’s underlying negative thoughts about themselves. There are also many times when these thoughts will start due to a direct result of unmet expectations within one’s living and/or social environment, along with possible inherited emotional make-ups.

DO I AGREE WITH THIS EXPLANATION?

     After learning more about how the evolutionary psychology model defines and explains depression, I fully agree with this theoretical belief and/or research finding. This is because there have been several times when I have experienced moments of depression within my own life. These feelings did occur because I felt that I was not the person that others expected. This also applied to different employment positions that I have obtained and due to obligations that were expected by loved ones. My initial thoughts were that I may not be intelligent enough to complete certain tasks according to the high standards that others had set or loving enough to provide all of the emotional support that is expected by each and every family member. There were also several times, when I found it difficult to balance these demands and instantly experienced severe feelings of shame, guilt, hopelessness and social embarrassment.

One other example of how this model and/or theory could apply in normal society is to explain why there are so many cases of suicide among teens. These young impressionable beings begin to feel symptoms of depression due to what others think or expect from them. During this period, these kids may also be experiencing serious physical harm at the hands of their abusers. These negative feelings can than propel to such a high level that the teen begins to believe that the only solution is to end such a useless life. I personally think that this is an act of total desperation and theories like this are also a valuable resource to explain such a devastating social phenomenon.

SUMMARY

     As previous stated, several years ago a man named Darwin founded the theory of evolution. According to this theory, he believed that all organisms will inherit physical structures directly from their parents. Over the last 10-15 years, researchers have also considered this theory along with laying a foundation to create evolutionary psychology. This theory states that both physical and psychological structures like emotions may also be inherited. According to this theory, another reason for this is because we are continuously evolving both physically and psychological from the previous living and/or social environments of our ancestors.

I also provided how the evolutionary psychology model defines depression, along with a comprehensive explanation about why this occurs to individuals. After reviewing this detailed information, I was than able to determine whether or not I agree or disagree with this theoretical belief and/or research finding. Once I made this determination, I was than able to state my opinion by applying the information to my own life experience and one major social issue. 
Overall, I believe that the evolutionary psychology theory and/or model could be an extremely useful tool to properly understand why depression can affect so many individuals. This is because many of us do judge who we are, based on the opinions, daily demands, and high expectations of people around us. We than subconsciously utilize this interpreted data within almost every aspect of our lives. If this data is positive then chances are we will make positive choices, however, if this data is viewed as negative, then it can cause devastating results.

Reference:

Carey J. T. (2005). Evolution, Depression & Counseling, Theory and Practice. Counseling Psychology Quarterly. Retrieved on October 19 2011 via the Kaplan University Library.