Seems to be an ambitious rethinking of depression. As someone diagnosed bi-polar, I’ll watch the development of this idea with interest.
But if the threat continues indefinitely and there is no way to fight or flee, the immobilization response continues. And since the response also changes brain activity, it impacts how people’s emotions and their ability to solve problems. People feel like they can’t get moving physically or mentally, they feel hopeless and helpless. That’s depression
[…]
Immobilization has an important role. It dulls pain and makes us feel disconnected. Think of a rabbit hanging limply in the fox’s mouth: that rabbit is shutting down so it won’t suffer too badly when the fox eats it. And the immobilization response also has a metabolic effect, slowing the metabolism and switching the body to ketosis. Some doctors speculate that this metabolic state could help to heal severe illness.
I could see this being the case. If I hate my job and have no other prospects on the horizon, my getting angry at stupid decisions by mgmt threaten my ability to preserve my position. But sarcastically resenting them keep me in stasis. I don’t think that’s a great analogy for what is being described here, but that’s what I’ve got off the cuff.