Depression's Evolutionary Roots: Scientific American

Depression's Evolutionary Roots: Scientific American:

"When one considers all the evidence, depression seems less like a disorder where the brain is operating in a haphazard way, or malfunctioning. Instead, depression seems more like the vertebrate eye—an intricate, highly organized piece of machinery that performs a specific function."

The latest in the depression-must-mean-something meme.
I wish I could believe it. I wish that the periods of depression, when nothing moves and all is dull, were leading to better insights about life's problems, mine or the greater good. My experience has been, however, is that I'm not capable of much thought during those times. I don't, as the article suggests, ruminate on topics that require deep and sustained concentration. No, my time is usually spent staring at the opposite wall, my focus about six inches before I reach the wall, so nothing is clear and less is important.

"Laboratory experiments indicate that depressed people are better at solving social dilemmas by better analysis of the costs and benefits of the different options that they might take."

Maybe, and I'm not being too snarky here, we ought to move into laboratories. What I've seen out here, in my life and the lives of nearly all people with severe depression, is that depression wrecks relationships and drives people into repeated episodes of bad and/or self-destructive behavior, often in an effort to find relief from depression.
I commend the article's author for trying to identify something good that can come out of depression. I don't rule it out. I just know that I don't want to go back there, no matter how my analytical skills might improve.