Social status and modern‐type depression: A review

Abstract

BackgroundsSocial hierarchy is one of the most influential social structures employed by social species. While dominants in such hierarchies can preferentially access rich resources, subordinates are forced into lower social statuses and lifestyles with inferior resources. Previous studies have indicated that the social rank regulates social behaviors and emotion in a variety of species, whereby individual organisms live within the framework of their ranks. However, in human societies, people, particularly young men, who cannot accept their own social status may show social withdrawal behaviors such as hikikomori to avoid confronting their circumstances.MethodsThis article reviews the neural mechanisms underlying social status identified in animal studies with rodents and primates, and assesses how social rank affects animal's social behaviors and emotion which may be relevant to modern type depression.ResultsSeveral brain regions such as medial prefrontal cortex are implicated in the formation of animal's social status, which leads to the differences in vulnerability and resilience to social stress.ConclusionOn the basis of these findings, we propose that physical interventions such as voluntary exercise, diet, transcranial direct current stimulation, and psychotherapy, rather than psychotropic drugs, may be useful therapeutic approaches for modern type depression, which is a typical example of social status conflict and a phenotype of adjustment disorder to the traditional hierarchical social order.

Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Produces Protracted Cognitive-Behavioral Impairments in Adult Male and Female Rats

“…In addition, as deficits in behavioral flexibility following AIE have been found in many preclinical studies as well as in humans with alcohol use disorder [1], and as some studies have demonstrated inefficient problem-solving strategies in male rats [13], we further hypothesized that AIE would produce deficits in the flexibility of search strategies employed in both sexes. We also hypothesized that AIE-treated female rats would be more sensitive to deficits in social dominance, as human clinical depression is almost twice as prevalent in women as in men [14] and increased submissive behaviors are associated with increased risk for developing depressive-like phenotypes [15][16][17][18][19]. Lastly, we hypothesized that both males and females would exhibit long-term memory deficits in NOR that persist until middle age, extending previous findings longitudinally and across both sexes [5,11,20].…”

“…This suggests that while dominant-submissive behaviors in the tube dominance test and cognitive behaviors in NOR, RAWM, and the Hebb-Williams maze may appear domain-specific, there exists a critical underlying link between them. As such, the ability of AIE to alter dominance phenotypes has important potential implications for cognitive function as well as stress susceptibility and the development of other co-morbid disorders such as depression [19]. In support of this hypothesis, alcohol exposure during adolescence increases depressive-like phenotypes in males, as evidenced by increased immobility in the forced swim test [39] in addition to increasing stress-induced drinking behavior in adulthood in both male and female rats [40,41].…”

Social Stratification and Leisure Consumption: Empirical Evidence Based on Micro Survey Statistics in China

“…The combination of social and economic status can reveal a group or individual's unequal access to resources, privilege, power, and control in a society [7]. Previous studies have indicated that the social rank regulates social behaviors and emotion in a variety of species, whereby individual organisms live within the framework of their ranks [8].…”

Multimodal treatment for a Brazilian case of hikikomori

“…[1][2][3][10][11][12] The role of pharmacological treatmentmainly antidepressants -in hikikomori is still uncertain. Better response rates are achieved in the treatment of comorbidities than in treatment of hikikomori itself [10][11][12] ; the reported case herein follows this pattern.…”

“…Potential treatments for hikikomori already described in scientific literature consist of family interventions, different psychotherapeutic approaches, social-skills training, group activities, support groups, planning of activities (on a flexible schedule) in order to take the affected individual out of the home, and physical activity, among others; however, the quality of the evidence for treatment strategies is low. 1 - 3 , 10 - 12 The role of pharmacological treatment – mainly antidepressants – in hikikomori is still uncertain. Better response rates are achieved in the treatment of comorbidities than in treatment of hikikomori itself 10 - 12 ; the reported case herein follows this pattern.…”