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Modern Insanity: What Really Makes Us CrazyBy Robin Nixon, Special to LiveScience posted: 29 July 2009 06:24 am ET 
Cavemen just didn't have our
problems. And when they did feel stressed, they could just
toss a boulder or something. Image credit:
stockxpert
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Last month, researchers found that schizophrenics were more likely to have been subjected to influenza in the womb than healthy individuals. Other common experiences can also drive away our wits, long after we are out of diapers. In fact, the typical American lifestyle teems with risk factors for mental illness, says Stephen Ilardi, a psychologist at the University of Kansas and author of "The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs" (DeCapo Press, 2009). But we can protect ourselves by adopting the habits of our distant ancestors, he said. "In modern life, our environment is continually activating the brain's stress response," Ilardi said, bombarded as we are by email, tragic news and interpersonal demands. Certain circuits in the brain react to stress as if it is an infection, triggering social withdrawal, inflammation and potentially leading to brain damage in areas such as the hippocampus, the frontal cortex and the basal ganglia, Ilardi said. In many mental disorders, "inflammation is a big culprit," Ilardi said. In short bouts, inflammation is the body's way of protecting itself. But if prolonged, it can take a tremendous toll. Like heart disease and insulin resistance, mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression, autism, anxiety and bipolar disorder have all been linked to inflammation. And the prevalence of many of these illnesses has increased in lockstep with modernization, Ilardi said. The relative sanity of our distant ancestors should not imply they led stress-free lives. Hunting dangerous game does not exactly instill Zen-like breaths. But "our remote ancestors had many factors woven into the fabric of their lives that turned off the brain's stress response," — habits that in most developed countries have fallen out of fashion, Ilardi said. For example, if met with an impediment on a path to some succulent boar, hunter-gatherers may have vented their frustration by, say, heaving a boulder out of the way. Physical exertion holds up a potent stop sign to the stress-inflammation circuitry, Ilardi said. But today, an urban dweller stuck in traffic can do little but stew. Many mental illnesses are recognized as a problem with brain chemistry, and therefore treated chemically with medication. But behavior also alters brain chemistry. Several primitive habits, researchers have found, may check the stress response and prevent it from making our brains sick. A program developed by Ilardi and colleagues — that helps individuals adopt the habits of cool, collected cavemen — is proving more effective in treating mental illnesses than conventional medication. For primal protection from modern insanity, try to: Balance your Omegas The ideal balance between Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats is one-to-one. In the typical American diet, the ratio is closer to 16-to-one, largely due to the modern tendency of feeding livestock grains instead of grass. Compounds derived from Omega 6 fats encourage inflammation, cross the blood-brain barrier and can trigger depressive responses, Ilardi said. Omega 3 fats, found in salmon, walnuts and flaxseeds, are anti-inflammatory and can help break the stress-inflammation cycle. Get more Zzzzs A century ago, Americans were averaging nine hours of sleep every night. These days, according to the National Sleep Foundation, many people get less than seven, a trend that has been linked to an overall decline in mental health. Strive to get 8 to10 hours of sleep each night to help your brain and body fully recuperate. Seek social support While our distant ancestors likely enjoyed being the best at something, say the best gooseberry spotter among their community of 50 to 100 individuals, in "today's global village of 6.5 billion people, nobody is the best at anything," Ilardi said. Finding a niche in a subset community may dissuade this inevitable ego knocker as well as provide other mental health goodies, such as halting rumination. Interrupt circle-think Focusing on a problem or discomfort can be adaptive; it helps us find solutions. But when we become fixated, the repetitive stress can erode our ability to rebound. Rumination, Ilardi says, is particularly common when we're alone, a state familiar to many inhabitants of developed countries. In contrast, our ancient ancestors rarely went solo. Having company or partaking in engaging activities can stop ruminative thoughts in their tracks. Walk it off We evolved as recreational athletes. Our ancestors not only spent much of the day engaged in moderate aerobic activity but also undertook regular weight-bearing chores, such as digging ditches and building huts. Studies have shown, just 90 minutes of exercise a week can be as effective as psych-medicines such as Zoloft. Take time to bask Everyone knows sunlight feels good. But it may also stave off illness. Sunlight — in modest quantities — triggers the production of an endogenous form of Vitamin D that, like Omega 3 fats, is anti-inflammatory and can help deter a runaway stress response. Develop a world view While research on the relationship between religion and mental health is inconclusive, individuals who have a global framework — a way of understanding the world, whether it be religious, philosophical or scientific — may have an increased ability to withstand blows to their mental health, Ilardi said. HealthWhy We Are All InsaneBy Robin Nixon, Special to LiveScience posted: 26 August 2008 01:04 am ET 
Mental illnesses afflict 25 percent of U.S. adults,
according to official numbers. But in reality, we're all a
little crazy. And for good reason: Nature doesn't really
care about our happiness. Image credit: Dreamstime
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Natural selection wants us to be crazy — at least a little bit. While true debilitating insanity is not nature's intention, many mental health issues may be byproducts of the over-functional human brain, some researchers claim. As humans improved their gathering, hunting and cooking techniques, population size increased and resources became more limited (in part because we hunted or ate some species to extinction). As a result, not everyone could get enough to eat. Cooperative relationships were critical to ensuring access to food, whether through farming or more strategic hunting, and those with blunt social skills were unlikely to survive, explained David C. Geary, author of "The Origin of Mind" (APA, 2004), and a researcher at the University of Missouri. And thus, a diversity of new mental abilities, and disabilities, unfurled. The Nature of joy It might seem as though modern man should have evolved to be happy and harmonious. But nature cares about genes, not joy, Geary said. Mental illnesses hinder one in every four adults in America every year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And this doesn’t count those of us with more moderate mood swings. To explain our susceptibility to poor mental health, Randolph Nesse in "The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology" (Wiley, 2005) compares the human brain with race horses: Just as horse breeding has selected for long thin legs that increase speed but are prone to fracture, cognitive advances also increase fitness — to a point. Let's take common mental conditions one-by-one. People with aggressive and narcissistic personalities are the easiest to understand evolutionarily; they look out for number one. But even if 16 million men today can trace their genes to Genghis Khan (nature's definition of uber-success can be measured by his prolific paternity), very few potential despots achieve such heights. Perhaps to check selfish urges, in favor of more probable means to biological success, social lubricants such as empathy, guilt and mild anxiety arose. For example, the first of our ancestors to empathize and read facial expressions had a striking advantage. They could confirm their own social status and convince others to share food and shelter. But too much emotional acuity — when individuals overanalyze every grimace — can cause a motivational nervousness about one's social value to morph into a relentless handicapping anxiety. Pondering the future Another cognitive innovation made it possible to compare potential futures. While other animals focus on the present, only humans, said Geary, "sit and worry about what will happen three years from now if I do that or this." Our ability to think things over, and over, can be counterproductive and lead to obsessive tendencies. Certain types of depression, however, Geary continued, may be advantageous. The lethargy and disrupted mental state can help us disengage from unattainable goals — whether it is an unrequited love or an exalted social position. Evolution likely favored individuals who pause and reassess ambitions, instead of wasting energy being blindly optimistic. Natural selection also likely held the door open for disorders such as attention deficit. Quickly abandoning a low stimulus situation was more helpful for male hunters than female gatherers, writes Nesse, which may explain why boys are five times more likely than girls to be hyperactive. Similarly, in its mildest form, bipolar disorder can increase productivity and creativity. Bipolar individuals (and their relatives) also often have more sex than average people, Geary noted. Sex, and survival of one's kids, is the whole point — as far as nature is concerned. Sometimes unpleasant mental states lead to greater reproductive success, said Geary, "so these genes stay in the gene pool."
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