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Mental Health Overview of the Day Traditional view Evolutionary view What is mental health Traditional view of mental health and abnormal behavior Atheoretical: based on atheoretical classifications in the DSM-III Theoretical hodge-podge, definitions differ based on popular psychological theories of the day Tends to presume an ideal of normality and happiness Lacks firm grounding in evolution and biology Mental Illness and Normality “The only normal people are the ones you don’t know too well.” Rodney Dangerfield (Esquire, October, 2000, p. 174) Mental Health and Evolution How important is ‘happiness’? Is there really such as ‘normality’? An Evolutionary Perspective on True Mental Illness “Dysfunction occurs when the mechanism is not performing as it was designed to perform in the context in which it was designed for function” (Buss, 2000, p. 399) Does not activate when it should, when confronted with an adaptive problem (lack of fear of heights) Is activated when it should not (Incest) Fails to coordinate with other other mechanisms (self assessment and mating behavior) Possible causes of mechanism failure Developmental insults Ingesting toxins, parasite infections during childhood (parasite theory of schizophrenia) Chance genetic variation Price we pay for variation (some variants go beyond normal bounds) Mutations failure to copy DNA accurately Other evolutionary explanations Side effects of some genes Some beneficial genes (creativity) have negative side effects, but benefits outweigh the costs (depression, bipolar disorder) Carrying a gene for a disorder (e.g., schizophrenia) conveys an advantage (e.g., creativity) for people who do not have the disorder Mental Health “Problems” Erroneously Labeled as Dysfunctions (1) Defenses depression in response to a personal failure Mismatch between EEA and modern environment eating disorders (unrealistic media representations of “typical body type) PSTD (10% in response to natural disaster; 20-50% in response to modern, made-made disasters) general anxiety (worry induced by multiple modern technologies) Mental Health “Problems” Erroneously Labeled as Dysfunctions (2) Normal mistakes accompanying ”on average” mechanism functioning male false positives in interpreting female signs of sexual interest Socially undesirable behavior based on normal mechanism functioning lower quality care, on average, of stepchildren Normal variation in “personality” extremes can provide a fitness advantage (e.g., impulsiveness, schizotypy) Social Competition Hypothesis of Depression Performance impairment is a characteristic of a depressed state: social withdrawal lack of energy poor self esteem lack of normal interests negative view of self, others, and the world in general Performance impairment can be adaptive sleep, hibernation Yielding in Competitive Situations Resource-holding potential (RHP) fighting capacity self-esteem Knowledge of RHP is important for competitive behavior Survival in competitive situations requires yielding to a superior opponent Competition and Depression “If voluntary yielding is blocked for any reason, the involuntary subordinate strategy may become intense and prolonged and may be recognized as depressive illness” (Price, et al. 1997, p. 243) Sexual selection inter-sexual selection, intra-sexual selection depression and love affairs Social hierarchy loss of rank has been shown to be associated with depression in a variety of species (vervet monkey experiment) rank and serotonin Sex Differences in Mental Disorders Disorders more common in women are due to: failure to failure to attract a mate (histronic personality and erotomania) failure to reproduce (anorexia nervosa and depression) 37% of females show such disturbances due to infertility whereas only 1% of males do failure to develop social-support networks (depression) intrusions into somatic territory(agoraphobia and hypochondriasis Females are more likely to experience depression than men oppressive, dominating male behavior male possessiveness and constraints on female social options, including female networks male preference for short-term sexual relationships and female preference for longer-term relationships One study found that females do not have higher rates of depression than males when they have equal opportunities Disorders more common in men are due to: competitive losses (impulse-related disorders, depression, alcoholism, suicide) female access problems (some types of sexual deviance) these types of disorders are much more common among males than females An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective on Treatment of Mental Illness Effective applications generally require an accurate understanding of underlying principles Design of wheels for different types of vehicles (bicycles, lawnmowers, snow throwers, trains, tractors, race cars, sedans, trucks) Are our approaches to treatment of mental illness on par with wheel design in terms of understanding basic principles? Treatments (from an Evolutionary Perspective) No distinctive evolutionarily-based treatments have yet emerged Some suggestions and speculations addressing causes that are suggested by EP improve social, romantic, competitive skills • Standard hospital treatment 46% recovery – 5% of 5 time in skill-related activities • Milieu therapy 71% recovery • Social learning therapy 97% recovery – 85% of time in organized skill-learning activities Understand origins of problems and adjust life and expectations accordingly competition, mating issues Understand and accept variation functions of depression, anxiety, fear, sadness happiness is not end-all and be-all Chemically based therapies to alter hardwiring when necessary Therapies to illustrate errors in thinking Importance of: social networks close family ties healthy habits Summary Traditional view Evolutionary view When mental “problems” are not What is mental health