Most, including myself, would argue that, particularly without treatment, bipolar disorder is a decrease in functioning. Untreated depression and mania disrupt every part of a life in negative ways – that’s what drives people to get treatment in the first place.
But if bipolar disorder is an illness and is a decrease in functioning, why hasn’t evolution naturally selected out bipolar disorder? Why do we still see bipolar disorder today?
Evolutionary Culling of Disease
Now, if you don’t believe in evolution, I can’t help you, but assuming you do, a quick refresher – survival of the fittest. The “fittest” in this case not indicating body fat percentage but indicating the greatest likelihood of survival. The “fittest” people would survive and thus be more likely to have offspring. Those offspring would be more likely to survive due to their parents superior DNA while others, less “fit,” would die before they could have children and pass on their DNA.
But why would people with bipolar disorder be fit enough to survive when, even today, bipolar disorder has as high mortality rate?
Benefits of Depression
When I’m in a depression I’m hard-pressed to see any benefit. In fact, someone telling me there is a benefit is a bit of a slap in the face. But looking evolutionarily there may have been some benefit to depression. For example, if you were in a lower class (in any type of society there are always classes) where other, more powerful humans would use and abuse you and take your things no matter what you did, it might make sense to sit around and do nothing. It might, in fact, make sense not to fight back if your opponent would always win no matter what you did. It might make sense to eat everything you could get your hands on because of scarcity of food supply tomorrow. The physical symptoms of depression might, in fact, protect you.
Benefits of Mania
The benefits of mania are pretty obvious. You can get more done than your fellow homosapiens. You’re braver; you’re bolder. You’re willing to take greater risks and earn bigger rewards. You can talk yourself and all those around you to go into battle and conquer the neighboring tribe. You might also be able to find more creative solutions to the problems facing humans at the time.
Benefits of Bipolar Disorder
I’m not saying that in today’s society having bipolar disorder is a good thing. Quite frankly, I would never say that. But there is a theoretical role in bipolar disorder throughout human history. Those traits that we now find maladaptive may, at one time, have been useful.
A More Modern Take on the Benefits of Bipolar
- There Must be Some Evolutionary Advantage by Dr. Jim Phelps
- Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison
- The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America by John D. Gartner
- The Bipolar Advantage by Tom Wootton
- Hypomania’s up side distinct but linked to bipolar disorder – By Benedict Carey (a New York Times article)
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you could say the same got genetic problems like downs syndrome or cystic fibrosis etc, not that they are weaknesses but they are obviously not evolutionary advantages. Evolution takes thousands of years so bipolar etc may eventually be ‘culled’ but not for a while yet. Also although there is a high mortality rate people with mental illness often have children whereas people with more physical or genetic mutations don’t or can’t so mental illness is passed on.
This is an excerpt for my e-book “Power of Positivity”
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/86502
Most all of us know that bipolar disorder is a genetic/inherited disorder. I have long wondered how parent’s personalities and emotions play with their offspring, as to the degree of onset with bipolar disorder.
Expressed emotion (EE), defined as emotionally intrusive, critical and hostile comments from various family members towards the person with the disorder, was one of the first variables demonstrated to influence the course of bipolar disorder. The effective size for EE in bipolar disorder is significant. The detrimental effects of EE are more pronounced when received from parents than from a marital partner. Low maternal warmth is a risk factor for relapse in adolescent bipolar patients. In bipolar disorder, EE holds predictive power even after accounting for subsyndromal symptoms and personality traits. Family members who may feel unconsciously or consciously responsible for the offspring’s disorder (e.g., either through bad genes and/or adverse rearing environments), or see symptoms as under the patient’s control, may be more prone to blame the patient and feel angry towards him/her.
You might take into consideration that modern medicine is ensuring fewer victims of Bipolar Disorder are dying than hitherto. That has a counter effect to “survival of the fittest” (as it does for any kind of medicinal practice that saves lives that would not have done previously.) So, the genes of “the best” are not necessarily what future generations are going to inherit!
You also might want to consider the fact that many people with bipolar don’t show any significant symptoms until later in life, and by then many have already had kids. They may or may not be effective parents, but that’s not the point. Their genes have already been passed on.