It is no secret that how we interpret something has a big influence on how we react to it. For example, a friend cancels a lunch date with no explanation. I can choose to believe that they hate me, have something better to do, have an emergency, or overslept and are adjusting their schedule accordingly. By choosing an interpretation, I am also choosing whether to feel hurt, worried, or disappointed. The interpretation I choose is influenced by a variety of factors including past experience, temperament and sometimes by societal norms and expectations.
Depression as an illness
Depression has been with the human race since at least the start of recorded history, and probably long before that. How we interpret depression, what we see as the cause, has changed with the times. Since perceived cause determines perceived cure, how we deal with depression has also changed with the times.
In the latter half of the past century, biological explanations of depression overtook psychodynamic ones. Depression was seen and marketed as a chemical imbalance in the brain, and treatments focused on correcting that imbalance. This shift lead to new antidepressant medications that have saved lives and enhanced the quality of life for millions. It also legitimized depression as a medical disorder, hopefully relieving some of the stigma around mental illness. The downside of acknowledging only biological causes of depression is that it puts recovery in the hands of medical professionals and out of the hands of the individual experiencing it.
Depression as a signal
A recent study, summarized here: https://www.psypost.org/the-surprising-psychological-benefits-of-framing-depression-as-a-functional-signal/ looked at whether shifting one’s understanding of depression from a disease to having an important function influences how the individual responds. This functional interpretation flows from the evolutionary perspective: does having depression give an advantage in certain situations; does it serve an important function in survival?
They found that those who interpreted their depression as a sign that something needed to be looked at in their lives had a greater belief in their own agency and ability to overcome depression than those who saw depression as an illness. They also engaged in less self-stigma, and had stronger beliefs in the adaptiveness and manageability of their condition (measured by endorsing items such as “experiencing depression can lead to new insights”). These positive impacts were stronger among women participants than men.
This study did not explore whether this change in perspective was related to the rate or likelihood of recovery from depression. Anecdotally though, in my experience those who take an active role in recovering from depression have better outcomes. Whether or not depression truly serves an adaptive function we may never be able to prove or disprove, but it seem clear that a what we chose to believe about depression can have an impact on how we chose to deal with it.