Being depressed can be an advantage - evolutionary roots of depression

[utterer of lies]

A very interesting article (with links to some nice papers in evolutionary psychology):

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=depressions-evolutionary

 

 

 

Edit: removed excerpt, just read the article

[Meaplus3]

This was a very interesting article. Thanks for sharing it.

 

Mea:)

[Rudderless]

Thanks for posting, I really like these sorts of contrarian viewpoints. I've also read several articles on why negative thinking can often be the best approach to a problem because it allows you to be thorough (sorry don't have time to dig them up). I guess depression can be seen as some form of extension to that when you look at it this way.

[runner]

very interesting. cheers

[EsmerKiss7]

Wow. I love Scientific American, great website. That was a good article it definitely makes you think..

[Thornton]

Thanks for the article, I found it fascinating

 

I've often thought that depression is linked to thinking about things too much and over-analysing. It's interesting to consider that depressed people might actually be more thoughtful and better able to solve complex problems - it's said that there's a fine line between genius and madness, and some of the most intelligent and creative people in history have also been the most depressed.