Territory, rank and mental health: The history of an idea

Essay:

Territory, rank and mental health: The history of an idea

Evolutionary Psychology 5(3): 531-554 John S. Price, Chanctonbury Community Mental Health Team, Old Mill Square, Storrington, West Sussex, UK,, johnscottprice@hotmail.comRussell Gardner, Jr., Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, WI, USA,, rgj999@yahoo.comDaniel R. Wilson, Department of Psychiatry, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA,, wilson@creighton.eduLeon Sloman, Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada,, slomanl@rogers.comPeter Rohde, Harley Street, London W1N 1DD, rohdep@doctors.org.ukMark Erickson Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA,, mterickson@southcentralfoundation.com

Abstract

We trace the development of ideas about the relation of mood to social rank and territory. We suggest that elevated mood enabled a person to rise in rank and cope with the increased activities and responsibilities of a leadership role, while depressed mood enabled a person to accept low rank and to forego the rewards associated with high rank. This led to the concept of a trio of agonist/investor strategy sets, each consisting of escalating and de- escalating strategies, one set at each of the three levels of the triune forebrain. Depressed mood can be seen as a de-escalating (appeasement) strategy at the lowest (reptilian) level; this should facilitate de-escalation at the highest (rational) level, but sometimes this rational level de-escalation is blocked (e.g., by stubbornness, courage, pride or ambition) and then clinical depression may ensue. These evolved psychobiological mechanisms survived the partial transition from agonistic to prestige competition. We discuss difficulties which have arisen with our ideas, and their implications for clinical work and research.

Keywords

agonistic competition, escalation/de-escalation, depressive illness, evolutionary epidemiology, social rank (hierarchy), territory

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