The bright side of being blue
September 29th, 2011 by Smita Rajput Kamble MBACP
The predominant medical view is that depression is a mental
disorder and anti depressants and psychotherapy maybe
prescribed to manage it.
Depression is characterized by sad mood, the inability to derive
pleasure from activities such as eating or sex, and changes in
psychomotor, sleeping, and eating patterns.
This may sound all doom and gloom but research is re
evaluating depression and asking some important questions.
The unusually large numbers of people who now get diagnosed
with depression leads to the question whether it is not a bit
of overdiagnosis and can we step away from resorting to
medication where possible.
Therapy seems to be a more healthy alternative and can be
a good space to take inner rumination to, avoiding too much
isolation.
According to an article in the American Psychological Review
(2009) ‘The bright side of being blue: Depression as an
Adaptation for Analyzing Complex Problems’, the authors
(P.Andrews and A. Thomson Jr ) suggest that depression
maybe a natural response to help an individual avoid outside
stimulus and apply his/her mind to resolving complex inner
problems.
They say, ‘Depression is the primary emotional condition for
which help is sought. Depressed people often report persistent
rumination, which involves analysis, and complex social
problems in their lives.
Depressed people may withdraw into an internal state of
preoccupation where they seem to ruminate. They may slowly
isolate from others and insulate themselves from the outside
world.
According to the article, ‘Analysis is often a useful approach
for solving complex problems, but it requires slow, sustained
processing, so disruption would interfere with problem solving.
The analytical rumination hypothesis proposes that depression
is an evolved response to complex problems, whose
function is to minimize disruption and sustain analysis of
those problems by
(a) giving the triggering problem prioritized access to
processing resources,
(b) reducing the desire to engage in distracting activities
(anhedonia), and
(c) producing psychomotor changes that reduce exposure to
distracting stimuli.
In other words, the authors suggest that a certain amount of
preoccupation and privacy may be required to think about and
resolve life’s complex problems, whether it is at the workplace
or in domestic life.
As a society we have ensured that workplace meetings be
relatively without interruptions and have maximum privacy.
This is to encourage a more focused and deeper thinking about
workplace issues by avoiding all other distractions.
However, popular ideas which dictate how social and family
life should be do not make space for such a condition. The
sometimes stereotypical mingling with others is encouraged to
fight what is considered an illness and anyone who wants to
opt out maybe considered either ‘boring’, a misfit, unwell, anti
social or unpopular.
It is difficult to live with someone who is depressed. Family and
close friends begin to feel the pinch of being with someone who
is quite unavailable emotionally. They may experience useless,
angry and pent up feelings.
According to the authors, depression as it is defined medically,
is prevalent in industrialised societies where such a study
was held but it also exists in small societies wherever it was
possible to conduct such a study.
They go on to say ‘such evidence suggests that much of what
is currently classified as depressive disorder represents normal
psychological functioning (Horwitz & Wakefield, 2007).
One likely factor contributing to overdiagnosis is that clinically
significant impairment is not conclusive evidence of disorder
(Spitzer & Wakefield, 1999). Impairment can be caused by
biological dysfunction, but it can also be caused by properly
functioning stress response mechanisms.’
Though clinical and severe depression over a long period
of time is not to be taken lightly, the usual bouts of milder
depression maybe seen as a human and natural response to
the need for resolving complex issues.