Good Reasons For Bad Feelings:

"Nesse, a prominent figure in the field of evolutionary medicine, proposes a novel perspective on why humans experience what are often labeled as "bad feelings" — such as anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders. He argues that these feelings, although distressing, may have evolved for good reasons, serving adaptive purposes that enhanced survival and reproduction in our ancestral environments.

The essence of the book revolves around the concept that many psychological disorders can be better understood when viewed through the lens of evolution. Nesse suggests that just as physical traits can be seen as adaptations shaped by natural selection, so too can our psychological experiences. For instance, anxiety might have evolved as a mechanism to keep our ancestors safe from predators and other threats, making them more likely to survive and reproduce. In today's world, these once-adaptive responses can become maladaptive, triggering excessive or inappropriate anxiety in situations that are not life-threatening."