Anxiety and Depression as Evolutionary Response to Adversity

Anxiety and Depression as Evolutionary Response to Adversity

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

We evolved to feel depression and anxiety in response to difficult experiences because it serves a purpose. We’ve also evolved to depend on each other as a community. One without the other is going to go poorly for us, and I fear that is exactly where we are now. The large increases in rates of depression and anxiety, not to mention what seems like our complete inability to make a dent in the rates of suicide in the US, might just be because of this imbalance.

So be good to each other, and stay connected to each other. It’s what we need most in times of adversity.

It’s Hard to Have Hope Right Now
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It’s Hard to Have Hope Right Now

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 4 minutes

We need each other now, as always. We need our community. We need our connections. We need to know that we are not alone in this. So, let me, in the midst of my own exhaustion, do this one thing. If you’re feeling hopeless, angry, anxious, depressed, etc. because of the state of the world, or the state of your job, the losses you’ve suffered, the issues you are fighting for, the struggle to hang on to hope, you are not alone. I am with you. I see you. I share your exhaustion, frustration, anger, and your need for rest. Whether we’ve talked about this personally, or if you’re simply holding this all in and trying to keep it together, I see you. I’m with you. We are together in this, and we should share the little bits of hope with each other. They may be hard to see, but the more of us who are dedicated to looking for them, and sharing them, the more of it we’ll draw strength from.

The Extreme Things Toxic Positivity Forces You To Believe
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The Extreme Things Toxic Positivity Forces You To Believe

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 4 minutes

I feel fairly certain I have never read a worse example of how certain worldviews will have to end up blaming the victim for their own suffering than this quote from an article about how we can fetishize “surviving” during difficult times, often taking more interest in things like the Holocaust:

Recently, a textbook required for the UNC minicourse “21st Century Wellness” was skewered for suggesting—as a headline read—“Holocaust victims who died failed to find their inner strength.” The actual text included: “The people in the camps who did not tap into the strength that comes from their intrinsic worth succumbed to the brutality to which they were subjected.”

I realize that this seems shocking that anyone would believe this, but I have a different take on it. Why wouldn’t some people believe this?

I’ve Been Going to Therapy Again
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I’ve Been Going to Therapy Again

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

I’ve done therapy before, but this time it’s different. It’s been physical therapy for my knee injury. On the one hand, though, the parallels are interesting, but on the other, the perceptions are totally different. It shouldn’t be that way. First, the similarities: Physical therapy takes time. You don’t go in and get “fixed”. In…

Another Personal Note – You Have to Take the First Steps
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Another Personal Note – You Have to Take the First Steps

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 4 minutes

Seven years ago, I wrote about today being my 10th wedding anniversary. At the time, I had been living in South Carolina for almost 6 months, my wife had been in Ohio during that time, but would be joining me, finally, in October, after finishing up her last work commitment by traveling to Greece. That…