At 63 years, I look back at my life and view great gaping holes of time spent in depression.

Care must be given to the type of depression discussed. Clinical, suicidal depression is extremely dangerous and I do not wish to minimize that danger. The other, non-suicidal kind is what I experienced.

From this perspective, I can see value in depression. Like Carl Jung suggested, wrestling with depression can be like wrestling with a dark spirit who ultimately turns out to be a friend who helps redirect life.

Some of my most valuable achievements have come out of wrestling with depression. It is through these struggles and achievements that I find meaning, joy and peace.

Yet I know those who have come too close to suicide, and feel grateful to all clinicians who help patients navigate through the darkness.

I’ve heard similar arguments before and I honestly don’t know. I wonder if there is a negative selective pressure. The only problem is that is seems it would require foresight by extrapolating current trends into the future. Since I’m not sure, I wrote to the editor of the podcast, Evolution 101, Zachary Moore. If you haven’t checked out the podcast, I recommend it. It’s well done and addresses some of evolution’s most common questions. Maybe he’ll answer our question on his next podcast.

For most species, there are things that prevent overpopulation (predators, finite resources, hostile environments, etc.) but humanity avoids a great number of these. Maybe nature is experimenting with means of controlling a species that otherwise will grow so quickly that it will soon exhaust its ability to sustain itself.