“The Imagination of a Danger Which Had Never Been Experienced”: A Darwinian Exploration Into the Evolution of Anxiety Disorders”
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness, affecting two-hundred and sixty four million people around the world every year. The pharmaceutical model for anxiety disorders emphasizes that a chemical imbalance in the brain is responsible for suffering, therefore justifying the use of medication to resolve that imbalance. Looking into Darwin’s theory of evolution we can see that anxiety disorders are really a dysregulation of a response that can be normal and useful and should be treated much differently. This provides some illumination on the long list of adverse effects that the current popular assortment of treatments for mental disorders brings about. Adverse effects such as, increased suicidal ideation, severe weight loss or weight gain, and extreme fatigue in daily activities. This is a consequence of a poor understanding of evolutionary theory within the mental health community. My project glimpses into the world of evolutionary psychology and looks to answer the question, how does evolutionary theory explain the development and persistence of anxiety disorders? Knowing the origin of anxiety disorders can change how we respond to them and how we go about providing treatments for those suffering. Currently, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, for example, does not differentiate between functional and dysfunctional routes to distress and impairment. Knowing whether a harmful condition was caused by a naturally functioning adaptation or a breakdown of an adaptation can lead to different models of illness, different directions of research, and, most importantly, different approaches to treatment. From looking at scholarly journals, reading Charles Darwin’s works, learning about evolutionary psychology, and looking at a multitude of scientific studies on topics such as the effectiveness of antidepressants, my paper shows the importance of understanding evolution for sound mental health. Evolutionary theory is vital not only to understand the origin of disorders, but also to explain why humans are vulnerable to them in the first place. In addition, it aids us in ascertaining new areas of research leading to more effective treatments.