Page 38 - JCBP-3-4

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Preventing teen depression and anxiety

to as resilience – along with active and positive coping campaigns, can serve as effective interventions to help close
24
mechanisms. This highlights the potential of using the evolutionary mismatch gap. Adopting a developmental
25
education as a preventive measure to encourage self- perspective in addressing the mental health crisis among
help. This strategy presents a compelling opportunity to adolescents by acknowledging the evolutionary mismatch
shape the future by integrating resilience-building into between rapid technological change and slower biological
education, equipping children with the tools to adapt in adaptation is also crucial. Recognizing this as a shared
the face of life’s inevitable obstacles. evolutionary threat to humanity will also help reduce the
stigmatization cast on any individual.
2.2. Evolutionary mismatch
The concept of evolutionary mismatch denotes the 2.3. Social values distortion
dissonance between modern lifestyles and evolutionary Frank Snowden, author of Epidemics and Society: From the
adaptability, and the mismatch, amplified by social and Black Death to the Present, pointed out that “every society
lifestyle factors, leads to heightened vulnerability to mental produces its specific vulnerabilities.” Examples cited in
35
disorders. 26,27 the book such as urbanization for cholera and globalization
Since industrialization, modernity has drastically for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), serve as valuable
changed lifestyles and widened the mismatch, creating references for today’s mental health epidemic because
many “diseases of modernity,” including anxiety and these crises all arise from shared societal threads that
depression. The modern lifestyle is a stark deviation from make the spread of the epidemic possible. What has made
the ancestral conditions in terms of diet, sleep patterns, modern society so vulnerable for depression and anxiety
physical activities, social behaviors, and stress responses. to “flourish?”
Back then, hunters and gatherers faced more immediate The distorted social values intensify the evolutionary
and acute stress, such as predation, whereas adolescents mismatch and foster an environment detrimental to
36
nowadays experience heightened chronic stress due to mental health. Strategies that promote altruism and social
prolonged pressure, such as the push to achieve secular connections within schools and communities can help
success, external expectations, and social isolation. mitigate the effect on adolescents, who are most vulnerable
Chronic stress experienced by the latter, compared to acute to these influences during identity formation. 37
one, has a more insidious impact on mental health with
continuous, accumulating effects. 28 In hunter-gatherer societies, values were focused on
sharing and cooperation to defend against the threat of
While chronic stress in today’s world is overwhelming, predation. As agricultural societies emerged, hierarchical
38
a particular source of stress for adolescents comes from structures developed with power dynamics in land
their constant engagement with social media. Adolescents, ownership. Industrial societies brought specialization
39
as heavy users of social media, are most vulnerable to the and urbanization, shifting the focus to individualism,
40
harmful effects of social media. Hence, more frequent competition, and secular success. 41
visits to social media platforms and increased access to
platforms are associated with more severe symptoms of The evolution of social values demonstrates how
depression and anxiety, which pose an evolutionary modern humans have moved further away from their
29
threat. Adolescents living in the hunters-and-gatherers’ original social instincts, widening the evolutionary
30
time were adapted to social interaction and group living, mismatch. The aggravation of the mismatch fostered the
but not to socializing through screens. Through social prevalence of mental health disorders, as the values and
media, virtual social interactions resemble and replace lifestyle of contemporary society are not what the bodies
in-person social interactions – a form of activity not what and minds of individuals were designed for. Unless the
evolutionary adaptivity shaped by natural selection was root causes embedded in societal values are addressed, the
designed for – leading to maladaptive consequences. 31 constant influx of new cases will not stop.
It is crucial to note that social media consumption is not 3. Current solutions
the only reason contributing to the deleterious impact on
themental health of adolescents, as negative consequences 3.1. The current pharmacological approach
arise from social media usage, including upward social The neuropathologic basis of depression and anxiety has
comparison. 32,33 and cyberbullying are also contributors been well established and has shaped the development of
34
to the rise of disorders such as depression and anxiety. pharmacological treatments. Selective serotonin reuptake
Hence, initiatives targeting lifestyle modifications, such as inhibitor, a first-line antidepressant, is widely used, yet its
community exercise programs and grassroots educational effectiveness remains limited. 42,43

Volume 3 Issue 4 (2025) 32 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.8077