We have now reached the central finding of my research: Depression is our body’s submission response in overload.
Once you understand the implications of this insight, you’ll be well on your way to winning the depression battle. Let me repeat it again: Depression is our body’s submission response in overload. Let me explain.
Thousands of years ago, the problems of human beings were very much like the problems of other animals – namely, having enough food to survive, and being vigilant against physical attack. Human beings, like animals, would dominate where and when they could, and would submit where their physical survival was at stake. Again, dominance and submission are two sides of the same coin. Both are instinctive. Both are there to help increase the chances of survival.
But what happened as civilization developed and became more “sophisticated”? Dominance and submission, these instincts, couldn’t always “express” themselves as they had in more “primitive” times. When in a dominant mode, it was becoming less acceptable – and less necessary – to be physically aggressive. Now the instinct to dominate had to find a more social – a more “psychological” – form.
Our submission response also faced changing social and cultural conditions. As society evolved, we found less and less need to submit to a more powerful physical aggressor. Instead, we found more and more need to submit to powerful psychological attack. And more and more often, this attack would come from our own thoughts.