If one accepts the reality that we still retain the behaviours which evolved over millennia to enable and enhance the lives of our hunter gatherer ancestors (previous blogs), then a change is needed in our social interactions. The dysfunctional and isolating aspects of the nuclear family, compared with the benefits of living in a tribe or family group, create mental problems that feature highly in the current workloads of psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. How many people these days would suffer from the common problems of isolation, depression and low self-esteem, sometimes unfortunately leading to suicide, if they had been part of a larger, caring tribe?

Which leads on to the questions: Are modern mental illnesses mainly the result of our retreat from tribal living and the creation of the nuclear family? Are the psychological and social services provided in modern society mostly a reaction to the outcomes of this change, and merely attempts to correct the deficiencies of living in nuclear families?

Which leads on again to the suggestion that instead of attempting to treat the mental illnesses and social problems of isolated individuals, it would be more effective to reestablish the tribal connections that are missing from their lives.