"Depression Is a Disease of Civilization“ - what do you think about that?

[coffeebeany]

All my life I have been very interested in history, evolution and I guess life itself. I m not saying life as hunters and gatherers or prior to that is easy peasy or ideal . I just always have been wondering how our societies and cultures came to be as they are now and if we have trapped ourselves.

 

[Forever Sleep]

It's an interesting idea. It does feel as if more people suffer with depression and other mental illnesses than earlier earas but- maybe that's just because we give them names these days. Probably, back in the day, you would just be sent to a sanitorium with a more general diagnosis.

I think you have a point though. The lives we live are very unnatural. Plenty of people are isolated, working in concrete buildings a third or more of their lives, eating highly processed foods and breathing in/ drinking other toxins. None of that can be good for either physical or mental health.

I'm not so sure it's 'civilization' causing the problem though. Animals get stressed and depressed in zoos if their cages are too small. I just think anything that severely restricts what we are designed to do tends to cause problems. We aren't designed to sit at a computer for 9 hours eating junk food.

Really though- if you put someone in isolation with no form of education, no 'civilization' to participate in. No freedom- I expect they would become depressed too. I just think it happens when we aren't meeting our needs. Our bodies and minds are incredibly needy when you think about it.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

@Forever Sleep hit the nail on the head.

Depression is a "disease of civilization" in the sense that our advances have kind of been a tradeoff between our most base needs and our higher needs: for example, most people in WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) countries now have dependable access to food, water, and shelter, but don't have a small, tribal group that they feel a deep sense of responsibility and belonging to (which is what we're evolved for).

The challenge for future generations is going to be playing catch-up and finding a way to have both. We're pretty new at this whole technological civilization thing so we still have time to figure that out, but it will be at the cost of the generations (like ourselves) that got caught in the middle, in the transition period (assuming we ever do successfully make the transition, which judging by our current trajectory, is looking dicey).

 

[ham and potatoes]

I get it. If you live a semi comfortable life, you got more time to think about depressing shit than someone living in a teepee spending all day, every day trying not to starve/ freeze to death

 

[ConstantPain]

I suppose in a way I think that the frequency of depression makes the case for it to partially be a disease of civilization. I definitely think it further exacerbates depression and anxiety. As an introvert and night owl, I would probably be more content staying awake all night tending the fire. Society forcing me to try to make myself a morning person who has to communicate a lot goes against my basic nature and strengths. That said, I think genealogy is also partially responsible.

 

[EternalShore]

it's probably because hunting and gathering is so difficult that all of a person's mind was dedicated towards mastering and doing that rather than spending time feeling sad~ Plus, we had to work in groups back then in order to eat and stay alive. Depression occurs a lot nowadays because of isolation~

 

[pomegranateflowers]

I think a great part of the depression could be people who don't fit into societal norms. For example sleep cycles. Most of the society functions in daylight hours, working during 9 to 5 and shops and businesses and regular people functioning at that time period. But for most of us night owls, or with sleep disorders, being forced to participate in society like this is like living with permanent jet lag, and it affects our mental health. I am constantly tired and falling asleep standing up.

 

[endless-void]

I'm not really good at explaining myself but there's a philosophy book called the burnout society by byung chul han that explains it pretty well

 

[Pluto]