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The Social Competition Hypothesis of Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

John Price ,
Leon Sloman ,
Russell Gardner Jr ,
Paul Gilbert  and
Peter Rohde
John Price*
Affiliation:
Odintune Place, Plumpton, E. Sussex, BN7 3AN
Leon Sloman
Affiliation:
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada
Russell Gardner Jr
Affiliation:
University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
Paul Gilbert
Affiliation:
Derby University
Peter Rohde
Affiliation:
53 Harley Street, London W1N 1DD
*
∗Department of Psychiatry, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington, New Zealand
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Abstract

Depressive personality and depressive illness are examined from an evolutionary adaptationist standpoint. It is postulated that the depressive state evolved in relation to social competition, as an unconscious, involuntary losing strategy, enabling the individual to accept defeat in ritual agonistic encounters and to accommodate to what would otherwise be unacceptably low social rank.

Type
Peer Review
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 164 , Issue 3 , March 1994 , pp. 309 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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