Speculation on the Purpose of Depression

Depression is common in humans, especially in winter. I speculate that depression is an adaptation. When we lived in caves, starvation was a major problem each winter. You could pretty well count on some of the people in the group dying each winter. If the people who most likely to die self-identified, became depressed and stopped eating and otherwise stopped consuming communal resources, that would leave more to support the rest of the group. Depression is outmoded in western society. Getting depressed won’t help your fellows in the least.

~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)