Publication Cover
Neuropsychoanalysis
An Interdisciplinary Journal for Psychoanalysis and the Neurosciences
Volume 26, 2024 - Issue 1
363
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Target article - Response to commentaries

Reply to commentaries – the separation distress hypothesis of depression – an update and systematic review

Pages 5-31 | Received 26 Mar 2024, Accepted 09 Apr 2024, Published online: 06 Jun 2024

References

  • Abdallah, C. G., Averill, L. A., Akiki, T. J., Raza, M., Averill, C. L., Gomaa, H., Adikey, A., & Krystal, J. H. (2019). The neurobiology and pharmacotherapy of posttraumatic stress disorder. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 59(1), 171–189. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010818-021701
  • Allen, N. B., & Badcock, P. B. T. (2003). The social risk hypothesis of depressed mood: Evolutionary, psychosocial, and neurobiological perspectives. Psychological Bulletin, 129(6), 887–913. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.6.887
  • Badcock, P. B., & Friston, K. J. (2023). The separation distress hypothesis: The ultimate theory of depression? Neuropsychoanalysis, 25(2), 161–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2262471
  • Barbano, A. C., van der Mei, W. F., deRoon-Cassini, T. A., Grauer, E., Lowe, S. R., Matsuoka, Y. J., O'Donnell, M., Olff, M., Qi, W., Ratanatharathorn, A., Schnyder, U., Seedat, S., Kessler, R. C., Koenen, K. C., & Shalev, A. Y., & International Consortium to Prevent PTSD. (2019). Differentiating PTSD from anxiety and depression: Lessons from the ICD-11 PTSD diagnostic criteria. Depression and Anxiety, 36(6), 490–498. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22881
  • Becker, C., Zeau, B., Rivat, C., Blugeot, A., Hamon, M., & Benoliel, J. J. (2008). Repeated social defeat-induced depression-like behavioral and biological alterations in rats: Involvement of cholecystokinin. Molecular Psychiatry, 13(12), 1079–1092. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4002097
  • Bitsko, R. H., Claussen, A. H., Lichtstein, J., Black, L. J., Everett Jones, S., Danielson, M. D., Hoenig, J. M., Davis Jack, S. P., Brody, D. J., Gyawali, S., Maenner, M. M., Warner, M., Holland, K. M., Perou, R., Crosby, A. E., Blumberg, S. J., Avenevoli, S., Kaminski, J. W., & Ghandour, R. M. (2022). Mental health surveillance among children — United States, 2013–2019. MMWR Supplements, 71(2), 1–42. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/su/su7102a1.htm
  • Blinder, B. J. (2023). Commentary on Douglas Watt’s “The separation distress hypothesis of depression - update and systematic review” with some additional thoughts on rumination and object loss. Neuropsychoanalysis, 25(2), 165–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2264302
  • Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss, Vol. 2: Separation. Basic Books
  • Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss, Vol. 3: Loss, sadness & depression. Basic Books.
  • Burgdorf, J., Kroes, R. A., Beinfeld, M. C., Panksepp, J., & Moskal, J. R. (2010). Uncovering the molecular basis of positive affect using rough-and-tumble play in rats: A role for insulin-like growth factor I. Neuroscience, 168(3), 769–777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.03.045
  • Carrara, M., Ferrario, M., Bollen Pinto, B., & Herpain, A. (2021, May 17). The autonomic nervous system in septic shock and its role as a future therapeutic target: A narrative review. Annals of Intensive Care, 11(1), 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13613-021-00869-7
  • Chatoor, I., Dickson, L., & Einhorn, A. (1984). Rumination: etiology and treatment. Pediatric Annals, 13(12), 924–929.
  • Cooney, R. E., Joormann, J., Eugène, F., Dennis, E. L., & Gotlib, I. H. (2010). Neural correlates of rumination in depression. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 10(4), 470–478. https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.10.4.470
  • Cordain, L., Eaton, S. B., Sebastian, A., Mann, N., Lindeberg, S., Watkins, B. A., O’Keefe, J. H., & Brand-Miller, J. (2005). Origins and evolution of the western diet: Health implications for the 21st century. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 81(2), 341–354. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn.81.2.341
  • Dagan, Y., & Yager, J. (2019). Addressing loneliness in complex PTSD. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 207(6), 433–439. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000992
  • Davis, K., & Panksepp, J. (2018). The emotional foundations of personality: A neurobiological and evolutionary approach. WW Norton.
  • Davis, K. L., & Montag, C. (2023). Unraveling the roots of depression – it’s complicated. Neuropsychoanalysis, 25(2), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2261454
  • Drevets, W. C., Wittenberg, G. M., Bullmore, E. T., & Manji, H. K. (2022). Immune targets for therapeutic development in depression: Towards precision medicine. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 21(3), 224–244. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-021-00368-1
  • Eaton, S. B., & Eaton, S. B., III. (2002). Hunter gatherers and human health. In R. B. Lee & R. Daly (Eds.), The Cambridge encyclopedia of hunter gatherers (pp. 449–457). Cambridge University Press.
  • Forte, A. R. C. C., Lessa, P. H. C., Chaves Filho, A. J. M., Aquino, P. E. A., Brito, L. M., Pinheiro, L. C., Juruena, M. F., Lucena, D. F., de Rezende, P. H. F., & de Vasconcelos, S. M. M. (2023). Oxidative stress and inflammatory process in borderline personality disorder (BPD): A narrative review. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 56, e12484. https://doi.org/10.1590/1414-431X2023e12484
  • Fox, R., Hyland, P., Coogan, A. N., Cloitre, M., & McHugh Power, J. (2022). Posttraumatic stress disorder, complex PTSD and subtypes of loneliness among older adults. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 321–342. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23225
  • Frank, A. (1969). The unrememberable and the unforgettable. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 24(1), 48–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1969.11822686
  • Freud, S. (1914g). Remembering, repeating and working-through. In The standard edition of the complete the collected works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 12, pp. 147–156). Hogarth.
  • Gordon, N. S., Burke, S., Akil, H., Watson, S. J., & Panksepp, J. (2003). Socially-induced brain “fertilization”: Play promotes BDNF transcription in the amygdala and dorsolateral frontal cortex in juvenile rats. Neuroscience Letters, 341(1), 17–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0304-3940(03)00158-7
  • Hagen, E. H. (2011). Evolutionary theories of depression: A critical review. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(12), 716–726. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371105601203
  • Hennessy, M. B., Chun, K., & Capitanio, J. P. (2017). Depressive like behavior, its sensitization, social buffering, and altered cytokine responses in rhesus macaques moved from outdoor social groups to indoor housing. Social Neuroscience, 12(1), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2016.1145595
  • Hennessy, M. B., Deak, T., & Schiml-Webb, P. A. (2001). Stress-induced sickness behaviors: An alternative hypothesis for responses during maternal separation. Developmental Psychobiology, 39(2), 76–83. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.1031
  • Hennessy, M. B., Schiml, P. A., Berberich, K., Beasley, N. L., & Deak, T. (2019). Early attachment disruption, inflammation, and vulnerability for depression in rodent and primate models. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(12), 314. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00314
  • Hennessy, M. B., Schiml-Webb, P. A., & Deak, T. (2009). Separation, sickness, and depression: A new perspective on an old animal model. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(4), 227–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01641.x
  • Hidaka, B. H. (2012). Depression as a disease of modernity: Explanations for increasing prevalence. Journal of Affective Disorders, 140(3), 205–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.12.036
  • Holt-Lunstad, J., & Golant, S.2023). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: U.S. surgeon general’s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community. US Gov Health and Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/ default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
  • Insel, T. (2022). Healing: Our path from mental illness to mental health. Penguin Press.
  • Keeney, A., Jessop, D. S., Harbuz, M. S., Marsden, C. A., Hogg, S., & Blackburn-Munro, R. E. (2006). Differential effects of acute and chronic social defeat stress on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function and hippocampal serotonin release in mice. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 18(5), 330–338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2826.2006.01422.x
  • Kendler, K. S., Hettema, J. M., Butera, F., Gardner, C. O., & Prescott, C. A. (2003). Life event dimensions of loss, humiliation, entrapment, and danger in the prediction of onsets of major depression and generalized anxiety. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(8), 789–796. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.60.8.789
  • Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. Jason Aronson.
  • Kernberg, O. (2022). Some implications of new developments in neurobiology for psychoanalytic object relations theory. Neuropsychoanalysis, 24(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2021.1995609
  • Kernberg, O. (2023). Commentary on “The separation distress hypothesis of depression – an update and systematic review”. Neuropsychoanalysis, 25(2), 169–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2261944
  • Lebrun-Harris, L. A., Ghandour, R. M., Kogan, M. D., & Warren, M. D. (2022). Five-year trends in US children’s health and well-being, 2016–2020. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(7), e220056. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.0056
  • Montag, C., Elhai, J. D., & Davis, K. L. (2021). A comprehensive review of studies using the affective neuroscience personality scales in the psychological and psychiatric sciences. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 125, 160–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.019
  • Montag, C., Solms, M., Stelzel, C., & Davis, K. L. (2022). The future of the affective neuroscience personality scales: A reflection on seven pressing matters. Personality Neuroscience, 5, e10. https://doi.org/10.1017/pen.2022.2
  • Montag, C., Widenhorn-Müller, K., Panksepp, J., & Kiefer, M. (2017). Individual differences in Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS) primary emotional traits and depressive tendencies. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 73, 136–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2016.11.007
  • Moskal, J. R., Burch, R., Burgdorf, J. S., Kroes, R. A., Stanton, P. K., Disterhoft, J. F., & Leander, J. D. (2014). GLYX-13, an NMDA receptor glycine site functional partial agonist enhances cognition and produces antidepressant effects without the psychotomimetic side effects of NMDA receptor antagonists. Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 23(2), 243–254. https://doi.org/10.1517/13543784.2014.852536
  • National Center for Health Statistics. U.S. Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey, 2020–2024. Anxiety and Depression. Generated interactively: from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm
  • Nemeroff, C. B. (2016). Paradise lost: The neurobiological and clinical consequences of child abuse and neglect. Neuron, 89(5), 892–909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.01.019
  • Nemeroff, C. B. (2020). The state of our understanding of the pathophysiology and optimal treatment of depression: Glass half full or half empty? American Journal of Psychiatry, 177(8), 671–685. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20060845
  • Nicholson, C. (2012). The humor gap. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-humor-gap-2012-10-23/
  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 400–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088
  • Packheiser, J., Hartmann, H., Fredriksen, K., Gazzola, V., Keysers, C., & Michon, F. (2024). A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions. Nature Human Behaviour, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01841-8
  • Panksepp, J. (1998). Affective neuroscience: The foundations of human and animal emotion. Oxford University Press.
  • Papageorgiou, C., & Wells, A. (2004). Nature, functions, and beliefs about depressive rumination. In C. Papageorgiou & A. Wells (Eds.), Depressive rumination: Nature, theory and treatment (pp. 1–20). John Wiley & Sons.
  • Petruso, F., Giff, A. E., Milano, B. A., De Rossi, M. M., & Saccaro, L. F. (2023). Inflammation and emotion regulation: A narrative review of evidence and mechanisms in emotion dysregulation disorders. Neuronal Signaling, 7(4), NS20220077. https://doi.org/10.1042/NS20220077
  • Pinneau, S. R. (1955). The infantile disorders of hospitalism and anaclitic depression. Psychological Bulletin, 52(5), 429–452. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045987
  • Pontzer, H., Wood, B. M., & Raichlen, D. A. (2018). Hunter-gatherers as models in public health. Obesity Reviews, 19(Suppl 1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12785
  • Radell, M. L., Hamza, E. A., & Moustafa, A. A. (2020). Depression in post-traumatic stress disorder. Reviews in the Neurosciences, 31(7), 703–722. https://doi.org/10.1515/revneuro-2020-0006
  • Roque, S., Mesquita, A. R., Palha, J. A., Sousa, N., & Correia Neves, M. (2014). The behavioral and immunological impact of maternal separation: A matter of timing. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 192. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00192
  • Sakamoto, T., Ishio, Y., Ishida, Y., Mogi, K., & Kikusui, T. (2021). Low maternal licking/grooming stimulation increases pain sensitivity in male mouse offspring. Experimental Animals, 70(1), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.20-0030
  • Samson, D. R. (2023). Our tribal future: How to channel our foundational human instincts into a force for good. McMillan Publishers: St. Martin's Press.
  • Sanchez, M. M. (2006). The impact of early adverse care on HPA axis development: Nonhuman primate models. Hormones and Behavior, 50(4), 623–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.06.012
  • Schiller, D., Yu, A. N. C., Alia-Klein, N., Becker, S., Cromwell, H. C., Dolcos, F., Eslinger, P. J., Frewen, P., Kemp, A. H., Pace-Schott, E. F., Raber, J., Silton, R. L., Stefanova, E., Williams, J. H. G., Abe, N., Aghajani, M., Albrecht, F., Alexander, R., Anders, S., … Lowe, L. (2022). The human affectome. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/9nu32
  • Siviy, S. (2023). Adding a layer of playfulness? Neuropsychoanalysis, 25(2), 175–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2263002
  • Slavich, G. M. (2020). Social safety theory: A biologically based evolutionary perspective on life stress, health, and behavior. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 16(1), 265–295. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045159
  • Slavich, G. M., & Irwin, M. R. (2014). From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 774–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035302
  • Slavich, G. M., Thornton, T., Torres, L. D., Monroe, S. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (2009). Targeted rejection predicts hastened onset of major depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28(2), 223–243. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2009.28.2.223
  • Smith, K. (2014). Mental health: A world of depression. Nature, 515(7526), 180–181. https://doi.org/10.1038/515180a
  • Solms, M. (2021). Revision of Drive Theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(6), 1033-1091. https://doi.org/10.1177/00030651211057041
  • Spitz, R. A. (1946). Hospitalism; A follow-up report on investigation described in volume I, 1945. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 2(1), 113–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1946.11823540.
  • Trevarthen, C. B. (1979). Communication and cooperation in early infancy: A description of primary intersubjectivity. In M. Bullowa (Ed.), Before speech. Cambridge University Press.
  • Tronick, E. Z.1989). Emotions and emotional communication in infants. American Psychologist, 44(2), 112–119. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.2.112
  • van der Kolk, B. (Ed.). (2015). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books. ISBN: 978-0143127741.
  • Watson, P. J., & Andrews, P. W. (2002). Toward a revised evolutionary adaptationist analysis of depression: The social navigation hypothesis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 72(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-0327(01)00459-1
  • Watt, D. F. (1986). Transference – a right hemisphere event?: The boundary between psychoanalytic metapsychology and neuropsychology. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, 9(1), 43–77. [No DOI available].
  • Watt, D. F. (2014a). The biology of aging: Implications for understanding the diseases of aging and healthcare in the 21st century. Contributed chapter. In A. K. Nair & M. N. Sabbagh (Eds.), Geriatric neurology (pp. 3–37). Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Watt, D. F. (2014b). Depression in the elderly: Interactions with aging, stress, chronic pain, inflammation, and neurodegenerative disorders. Contributed chapter. In A. K. Nair & M. N. Sabbagh (Eds.), Geriatric neurology (pp. 288–301). Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Watt, D. F., & Panksepp, J. (2009). Depression: An evolutionarily conserved mechanism to terminate protracted separation distress. A review of aminergic, peptidergic and neural network perspectives. (Target article with invited commentaries). Neuropsychoanalysis, 11(1), 7–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2009.10773593
  • Watt, D. F. (2023). The separation distress hypothesis of depression – an update and systematic review. Neuropsychoanalysis25(2), 103–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2240340.
  • Watt, D. F., & Pincus, D. (2004). Neural substrates of consciousness: Implications for clinical psychiatry. In J. Panksepp (Ed.), Textbook of Biological Psychiatry (75–110). Wiley Press.
  • Weber, M. D., Godbout, J. P., & Sheridan, J. F. (2017). Repeated social defeat, neuroinflammation, and behavior: Monocytes carry the signal. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(1), 46–61. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2016.102

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.