I’m curious if there’s a study or any inclusion of the importance of depressive periods as an integral part of growth? Or if medical science views depression solely as a “problem”.
In other words, is there a part of any treatment that looks at prolonged or other depression, specifically in trying to help someone identify the “life in transition” aspect that’s occurring to help normalize what is so often looked as “something to get over”? Or is that a byproduct of treatment?
There are multiple hypotheses / theories on the adaptive qualities of depression, which would align with the general theme of your question. One I read about recently was the analytical rumination (AR) hypothesis, which
"proposes that depression is an adaptation that evolved as a response to complex problems and whose function is to minimize disruption of rumination and sustain analysis of complex problems. It accomplishes this by giving episode-related problems priority access to limited processing resources, by reducing the desire to engage in distracting activities (anhedonia), and by producing psychomotor changes that reduce exposure to distracting stimuli." ~ Andrews PW, Thomson JA Jr. The bright side of being blue: depression as an adaptation for analyzing complex problems. Psychol Rev. 2009 Jul;116(3):620-54. doi: 10.1037/a0016242. PMID: 19618990; PMCID: PMC2734449.
Btw: D. I. E. D. = hilarious 😂
right?! 🤣
I’m curious if there’s a study or any inclusion of the importance of depressive periods as an integral part of growth? Or if medical science views depression solely as a “problem”.
In other words, is there a part of any treatment that looks at prolonged or other depression, specifically in trying to help someone identify the “life in transition” aspect that’s occurring to help normalize what is so often looked as “something to get over”? Or is that a byproduct of treatment?
There are multiple hypotheses / theories on the adaptive qualities of depression, which would align with the general theme of your question. One I read about recently was the analytical rumination (AR) hypothesis, which
"proposes that depression is an adaptation that evolved as a response to complex problems and whose function is to minimize disruption of rumination and sustain analysis of complex problems. It accomplishes this by giving episode-related problems priority access to limited processing resources, by reducing the desire to engage in distracting activities (anhedonia), and by producing psychomotor changes that reduce exposure to distracting stimuli." ~ Andrews PW, Thomson JA Jr. The bright side of being blue: depression as an adaptation for analyzing complex problems. Psychol Rev. 2009 Jul;116(3):620-54. doi: 10.1037/a0016242. PMID: 19618990; PMCID: PMC2734449.