Depression Linked to Intelligence and "Submissiveness"; "Star Wars" Fans Have Higher Rates of Depression

Phoenix, Arizona, May 13, 1999: Are smarter people more depressed? Are depressed people more submissive? And does "Star Wars" have anything to do with depression? According to a forthcoming book on depression by Dr. James N. Herndon, the answer to all of these questions is yes.
"There's been a fundamental lack of understanding of what the feeling of depression actually means," says Dr. Herndon, with the Phoenix-based research firm, Vallis Solaris, Inc. "In treating depression, the primary objective is to eliminate the depressed feeling. This is typically achieved with one of the many anti-depressant drugs. But the depressed mood is simply covered-up, not cured."
Dr. Herndon supervised one of the largest privately funded research studies on depression. "The results have caused me to reevaluate a lot of my assumptions about depression," he states. Among the more intriguing outcomes was a strong association between intelligence and depression.
"There seems to be a widespread belief that depressed persons are weak and ineffective. Actually, it appears that the more intelligent you are, the more you tend to create complex, negative scenarios in your mind. This can ultimately trigger what seems to be a kind of instinctive 'submission response' in the brain. We feel under attack, and are told by our brain to submit to the negative thoughts. It's actually a survival mechanism. But we interpret this as depression."
Results of the study suggest that our traditional concept of depression may be flawed. "What we call depression might be better characterized as a submissive illness. This has a host of implications for the treatment of depression," Dr. Herndon believes, "especially since our research seems to show that an instinctive 'dominance response' is also active in each of us. It's sort of like a built-in 'dark' side and 'light' side, each battling for supremacy. Our tests of a depression therapy based on utilizing our more 'dominant' instincts have been very encouraging."
Surprisingly, "Star Wars" played a role in Dr. Herndon's research results. "Our data revealed that 'Star Wars' fans had unexpectedly high rates of depression. The 'Star Wars' mythos apparently tends to heighten conditions of stress and disappointment, fueling an increased sense of vulnerability."
"But at least 'Star Wars' fans who are depressed can claim significantly above average intelligence," Dr. Herndon quips.    [Dr. Herndon is a member of the American Psychological Association.]
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