Why was the mental illness not removed in the process of evolution?

by Paula Lavrador

Mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder are those that impose a tremendous burden on most affected people and sometimes threaten our lives. Randolph Nesse , an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona, explains the question "Why was such a mental illness not removed from humans in the process of evolution?"

Susceptibility to Mental Illness May Have Helped Humans Adapt over the Millennia - Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/susceptibility-to-mental-illness-may-have-helped-humans-adapt-over-the-millennia/

At the time of writing, one in five Americans has a mental problem, and half of all Americans are suffering from mental illness at least once in their lifetime. However, Mr. Nesse thinks that not only "genetic defects and past trauma" are caused by various genetic diseases, but a lot of things have developed as "the result of gene selection by nature ".

In his book " Good Reasons for Bad Feelings ", Mr. Nesse said that incorporating the idea that "the process of human evolution produced a mental illness" is important for both patients and physicians He says it is beneficial. Emotions such as depression and strong anxiety are emotions that have worked advantageously for human beings in the course of evolution and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may be related to genetic mutations involved in the expression of beneficial traits about.

by Engin Akyurt

In "Good Reasons for Bad Feelings", Mr. Nesse believes that mental illness was beneficial to humans in the course of evolution, so it is not excluded from being excluded by today's people as well. However, the human society has undergone significant changes in the last few thousand years, and the reaction of emotions cultivated over a long period of time does not always become a human benefit always in modern society.

For example, Mr. Nesse shows two patterns that are beneficial to humans about the spiritual problem of "feeling depressed and losing motivation". One thing is to "give up something that does not go wrong and do not consume wasteful energy." Consuming energy aiming at unachievable goals for organisms including humans is a great waste. So, when things do not go wrong, feeling depressed and you lose your motivation, you can control wasteful energy consumption.

The other pattern is to "give up a method that does not go well and let us consider changing the strategy". This will also result in suppressing wasteful energy consumption, so it will be important for longer lives with limited energy. However, in modern society, it is rare for humans to survive to find foods such as nuts, fruits, and prey. Therefore, Mr. Nesse points out that losing motivation to suppress energy consumption is not useful for survival so much in modern society.

As a substitute for food acquisition, human beings are pursuing social success, etc. and live a more complex society more than tens of thousands of years and thousands of years ago. The melancholic mood gives up not to go wrong and we will try to focus on what goes wrong. Mr. Nesse says, "There is no necessity to obey the inner voice of saying" You are not useless now because you are in vain ", but it is meaningful to listen a little and listen carefully about what you are doing now "I mentioned.

by carlosalvarenga

Mr. Nesse believes that the reason why psychiatric disorders were not removed during evolution was at least in some ways advantageous for human evolution and survival. However, this does not mean that "trying to treat psychiatric disorders with antidepressants etc is naturally contrary". In ordinary medicine, I think about the cost and the benefit from alleviating symptoms about forcibly suppressing the reaction as to whether to suppress the defense reaction of the body such as Seki, fever, nausea by medication or the defense reaction of the body . Just like this, Mr. Nesse said he thinks that if the benefit is greater if the mental illness is also suppressed by the medicine, it should be treated positively with medication.

"Thinking that Mr. Nesse opposed the treatment of mental disorders using medicine etc." knowing that "I feel that depressed mood was beneficial to humans" in my writings, etc. There is, however, I have the opposite idea, "Mr. Nesse says. Mr. Ness asserted that it is important to improve your mood with medicine if you feel depressed mood for yourself.

by Kat Jayne

Mental disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and bipolar disorder are considered to be genetic factors greatly, and it seems that this gene is inherited because there are some merits in human beings. Severe psychiatric disorders narrow the possibility of leaving offspring, but in bipolar disorder, for example, it does not adversely affect the number of offspring so much. So, Mr. Nesse pointed out that "If people with bipolar disorder left many descendants at some point, more people will have genes related to bipolar disorder." In the past, bipolar disorder counted the number of offspring I guess there is a case that leads to an increase in results.

In other words, Mr. Nesse said that people who showed emotional movements close to bipolar disorder saying "There are many cases that feelings are sluggish while holding great ambitions" has led to great success and increased the number of offspring I am thinking.

"Many patients tend to feel that they are not normal when they are diagnosed as" you are depressed "or" there is anxiety disorder. "But these mental illnesses are meaningful for human survival There was a mental illness that something is not breaking in your mind but it may just be trying to appeal to something, "Mr. Nesse said .

by jill 111