>Most human babies take 9-18 months to walk, and this is commonly attributed to the fact that human babies have immature brains that cannot mature due to birth canal constraints, which is constrained by pelvis size which is constrained by the need to walk upright.

You have this a bit backwards- yes brain size at birth is limited by pelvis size, but this means that humans are born prematurely compared to other mammals. The entire body is basically premature and underdeveloped, not just the head/brain. If anything the brain is relatively over-developed, as it's size is the constraining factor in gestation length.

If I remember correctly, 18-24 months is the estimated gestation time humans would have if not restricted by pelvis size (which ironically is itself a result of walking upright), and this fits better with the idea of being able to walk closer to birth.

There's a chapter in "Born to Run" that ties human physiology and endurance and evolution and brain development together in a way that's so elegant, it almost has to be true. It covers the steps that lead to the need for a bigger brain and walking upright as a means for persistence hunting. Highly recommended reading, especially that chapter.

i recently listened to the bruce springsteen audiobook, 'born to run' -- it was great.

he talks a lot about his depression and how he finally got out of his deep rut, after 40 years of on/off again depression, sometimes severe

said he 'had it all' and still almost 'ended it all', so he totally gets it

i've never had it that bad, but i get it too, as much as anyone can who hasn't faced it directly

think he ended up just trying some particular drug mix that fixed him -- or, fixed him enough

so i do think there can be rewards to sticking it out as much as possible

and continuing to read about anyone who has ever talked about 'the black dog', like winston churchill.

i do wonder about the lifestyle stuff, tho

i always think back to that bored rat vs. playpen rat and water vs. cocaine experiment

if you are already getting at least 15 min of high intensity exercise (even a stationary bike, or the 'force fitmill sunny $400' --> recommend)

and you're eating right-ish

then those are both great

but i also wonder what, if anything, changing your job might do.

even if you try to switch to a 4-day/32-hour work week to start

take the salary cut if you need to

then look for other, more people-centric work? or physical labor-oriented?

or even start picking up small IT projects on Upwork or by pinging local businesses, etc.? to mix it up?

maybe try to change roles even within the same company? flip to qa, tech support, pre-sales, etc.? or a diff company?

just some ideas.

...one thing i heard back in the day, not sure i ever followed it myself - think i tried once - something like, "Do more of the things you like to do, and less of the things you don't like to do." seems reasonable.