Mental note: Could depression be useful?

Millions around the world suffer from depression. In fact, India — with at least 36 per cent of its giant population at risk — is right up there on the list of countries that are dealing with this debilitating condition. The strain on our youth is evident as India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates among those between 15 and 29 — reasons range from family troubles to career breakdowns. 

Doctors have been, for years, trying their best to medicate, or counsel their way out of this crisis. Today, a reported mental episode will leave you clutching a few prescription drugs, a list of helpline numbers and your wallet. It’s not easy. 

But what if there has been a change in thought? What if depression was normal, or even a natural reaction to physical or mental events around you? These are the arguments being put forward by what’s known as the ‘analytical rumination hypothesis’. 

The hypothesis was first put forward by evolutionary psychologist Paul Andrews, currently with the McMaster University in Canada, in 2009. His argument was simple. A bout of depression switches on a state of mood that allows a person to slow down and take stock of a particular situation. Call it rumination, or even analytical thinking. Professor Andrews worked with psychiatrist Andy Thompson to deliver this radical idea. 

According to their paper, an episode of depression allows, “(a)... the triggering problem-prioritised access to processing resources, (b) reducing the desire to engage in distracting activities (anhedonia or the inability to feel pleasure), and (c) producing psychomotor changes that reduce exposure to distracting stimuli”.

Two experts then conclude that every aspect of depression allows the person to allocate “resources”. Even the lack of regular sleep is time put aside to break a problem down. Studies have shown that those affected by depression often experience REM sleep... and during this phase the brain is working overtime — shifting thoughts. It’s not always useful, but a steady, grounded analysis can help patients determine causal factors. 

The key here again, is rumination — the bouncing around of thoughts by the mind as it searches for answers. ‘Why does my job trouble me?’ or ‘Why did the girlfriend leave?’. Ignoring these thoughts, and continuing with routine, can leave you in confused statis for an extended duration of time. But a ‘hard look’ can often help even if it keeps you from your routine. 

“Because processing resources are limited, the inability to concentrate on other things is a tradeoff that must be made to sustain analysis of the triggering problem,” writes Professor Andrews. 

The analysis also leads us to certain assumptions. Are people who always indulge in rumination more prone to depression? Are the ones who are “over-thinking it” driving themselves off the edge? Or have they benefitted in some way? A few thousand years ago, Aristotle said there is not a genius mind without a touch of madness and suddenly, we find ourselves wondering if the likes of Van Gogh — caught in an endless loop of painful thoughts — was one of the smartest people to have chopped off a ear. Analytical Rumination suggests that the body is reacting to a crisis — it seeks to normalise depression and turn it around as if it were a cold. Thompson and Andrews did polarise opinions and many asked if this was a dismissal of what’s described as torture. Which is why Jonah Lehrer, while writing the epic Depression’s Upside for the New York Times noted: “To say that depression has a purpose or that sadness makes us smarter says nothing about its awfulness. A fever, after all, might have benefits, but we still take pills to make it go away. This is the paradox of evolution: even if our pain is useful, the urge to escape from the pain remains the most powerful instinct of all.”