October 1997 Notebook Entries

Notebook entry, October 28th, 1997 

Analysis of the DSM-IV through an evolutionary perspective is progressing well.   The first order of business was to separate the mental disorders that frequent the two genders.  At first blush it appears that mental disorders that aflict the male gender have to do with outward movement or thought expressions (reading disorders, conduct disroders, sexual perversions, etc) while the mental disorders that visit the female gender appear to be more directed inward, or having to do with the inner thought processes (body image, mood disorders, nightmares, etc).

In particular, I was pondering my own stepdaughter's seasonal depressive moods.   In the DSM-IV, this disorder can be found on p.389.  It states that the disorder visits 60-90% of the female gender, and in the majority of the disorders, they seem to begin in the fall or winter months.  From an evolutionary perspective it is easy to speculate on the social implications of cave dwelling during the winter months. The female gender, already dominated by the strength of the male gender, forced into even closer and highly agitated quarters, causing even higher periods of angst.  I speculate that the seasonal depression could very well be the genetic seasonal reactions of those fall and winter months 20,000 to 45,000 B.P. in southwestern France, southeastern Europe, and elsewhere when close living conditions evolved. I speculate that the reason the thought process is directed inward in the female or others that are held captive, is that the mind will still "move" when the body cannot, and hence the genetic balance toward inner thought.