Rethinking Depression: Insights from Evolutionary Perspectives and Anxiety Disorders - Leif Kennair

Professor Leif Kennair speaks at the ISEMPH 2024 evolutionary psychiatry pre-meeting.
We have maybe overreached when attempting to understand the evolution of depression, as we do not fully understand the function of low mood. Also by primarily considering depression we are implicitly suggest that the dysfunction has an adaptive function, which surely is a mistake. Considering that sustained negative affect is helpful, is a typical human metacognition, however it is probably not true. On the other hand we understand the dysfunction of anxiety because we understand the function of fear. This has provided us with the grounds for specific anxiety disorders with concrete safety behaviors and domains of exaggerated fear. This presentation considers some of the conceptual problems current evolutionary perspectives on depression face, consider current treatment of depression and anxiety, and consider what our understanding of anxiety disorders may offer future research into depression from an evolutionary perspective.