The evolutionary perspective of psychology focuses on how natural selection has given rise to traits that promote the survival of genes. The tendency of depressive symptoms is not always maladaptive; natural selection has proven it to be adaptive in certain environments. The functional purpose of depression is the ability to withdrawal from unfavourable situations as a defense strategy. Evolution has favoured certain depressive symptoms for just that purpose: being anxious and uneasy encourages skepticism and attentiveness towards potential threats or threatening situations, mental and physical fatigue motivates conserving energy and motivation when the continued attempts are not likely to be successful, and the obsessive replaying of negative events, called rumination, can play a crucial role in understanding the causes and consequences of situations and how to avoid repeating the same mistakes. These depressive symptoms to unfavourable situations have become adaptive and encouraged our ancestors to survive.
Given the negative stigma associated with depression, it is difficult to see how sadness and low mood serve an evolutionary purpose. Evolutionary psychologists have proposed multiple theories to the adaptive evolution of depression. The social
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Psychoactive drugs deplete the brains natural supply of endorphins and dopamine as well as inhibit the reuptake of serotonin. When the brain is overwhelmed with artificial neurotransmitters is stops producing its own supply and the continued blocking of serotonin damages serotonin producing neurons. When the psychoactive drugs leave the body, there is an undersupply of the neurotransmitters that regulate our mood, leaving the mind in a depressed state as it undergoes withdrawal. The brain is a complex working of chemicals that influence our mood as a result to environmental and artificial