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Lecture 8: Psychopathology in humans and nonhuman primates – why do humans get depressed?
Depression in humans
- Feelings of sadness / emptiness
- No interest or pleasure in activities
- Weight changes
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- Agitation or retardation
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Poor concentration
- Recurrent thoughts of death
Evolution an depression
- Depression is common
- High heritability
- People with depression have less children
- Paradox: Why did natural selection not eliminate depression from the population?
Prevalence and heritability
- Lifetime prevalence (USA): 19.2%, (NL): 17.9%
- University students: 30.6%
- Persistent depressive disorder (USA): 4.7%
- Heritability = 37%
Why do humans get depressed?
- Cry for help
- Reaction to losses
- Seasonal – no activity in winter
- Energy conservation
- Rumination – solving problems
- Association with inflammation/infections
- Mismatch
Mismatch hypothesis
- We are not adapted to modern environments, but to ancestral environments. This results in a mismatch.
Testing mismatch hypothesis -test 1
Chimpanzees in the wild – less mismatch
Captive chimpanzees – more mismatch
Captive chimpanzees were more likely to show signs of depression:
- Depressed hunched posture
- Social withdrawal
- Easily irritated or angered
- Loss of interest in activities
- Weight loss or gain
- Awake or easily awakened
- Difficulty falling asleep or excessive sleep
- Poor concentration
Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness
- Savannah-like environment
- Hunter-gatherer society
- Nomadic lifestyle
- Physical dangers
- High infant mortality
- Food scarcity
Mismatch hypothesis – test 2
Developing countries – less mismatch
Developed countries – more mismatch
- It was found that the higher the GDP per capita is somewhere, the more people suffer from mood disorders
Key environmental changes
- Obesity
- Different diet
- Less physical activity
- Less sunlight
- Less sleep
- Less social interactions
Mismatch hypothesis – test 3
Rural areas – less mismatch
Urban areas – more mismatch
High prevalence of diagnoses in Stockholm, Sweden, compared to Swedish rural areas:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Asthma
- COPD
Mismatch hypothesis – test 4
Hunter-gather societies – less mismatch
Modern societies – more mismatch
- No signs of depression were found in Kaluli, a hunter-gather society in New Guinea
Mismatch hypothesis – test 5
Co-sleeping babies – less mismatch
Babies sleeping alone – more mismatch
When co-sleeping:
- Less infant crying
- Less sudden infant death syndrome
- Higher self-esteem
- Less anxiety
- More satisfaction with life
- More social competence
Mismatch hypothesis – test 6
More physical activity – less mismatch
Less physical activity – more mismatch
Prospective study in adolescents:
- Each additional hour of physical activity per week - reduction in depressive symptoms of 8%
Mismatch hypothesis – test 7
More mismatches – more depression
Less mismatches – less depression
Mismatch questionnaire with scales:
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of exercise
- Lack of natural daylight
- Lack of time
- Lack of green environment
- Lack of social relations
- Lack of contact with family members
- Materialism
Mismatch correlation with depressive symptoms (BDI): 0.6
Conclusion
Modern humans behave like captive apes
Solution
Do we all need to become hunters and gatherers again...?
Mindfulness: Non-judgmental and accepting awareness of the present moment
- Mindfulness improves mental health
- It prevents depressive relapse
General conclusion
An evolutionary informed psychiatry and developmental psychology may improve mental health and children’s education
Emotion and cognition lecture notes
- Emotion and Cognition - Lecture 1 notes
- Emotion and Cognition - Lecture 2 notes
- Emotion and Cognition - Lecture 3 notes
- Emotion and Cognition - Lecture 4 notes
- Emotion and Cognition - Lecture 5 notes
- Emotion and Cognition - Lecture 6 notes
- Emotion and cognition: Lecture 7 notes
- Emotion and cognition: Lecture 8 notes
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Spotlight: topics
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