1. Absolutism led to anxiety/depression and was signaled in speech.
2. Anxiety/Depression led people to think absolutely giving rise to absolutist speech.
3. Absolutist speech created anxiety/depression circumstances.
I go with number 1.
4. Absolutism and anxiety/depression have some other common cause, but don't cause each other.
I think another way of saying it is that nuanced thinking is a luxury that can only be afforded when there is no imminent crisis.
This corresponds pretty well to the whole System 1/2 framework most people have heard about via Daniel Kahneman.
Calm considered thinking takes time and resources, so it's not employed when people are in a real, perceived, or chemically or physically induced state of crisis.
If you think you're not valued and your opinions not valued you will tend to add expletives (very, extremely) and absolutes to your language.
Of course this can have the opposite effect on the listener. They know to dismiss the speaker (consciously or unconsciously).
Similarly I've heard "arguments" from people on particular controversial topics and they have failed to put forward their view. The language is full of absolutely that and idiotic this but I'm still don't know which side of the argument they're on!
John Lennon had a quote about this tendency. I've so far failed to find it.
I'm happy you made that list.
People who are anxious/depressed can feel that there are very few options available to them with the trapped sensation increasing the urgency of the choice, so the limited paths that they do see could be presented with more certainty than someone who feels like there's a wealth of alternatives.
The cognitive behavioral model would say that our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions all affect each other; changes in one will change the other. So we can effect our anxiety and depression by by fighting against our absolutist tendencies that are being reinforced by our anxiety and depression.
- To convey the subject to those of perceived lesser understanding, absolute words are employed to underline the understanding of the speaker and the importance of their insight.
At the same time:
- the unwillingness or incapacity of those of perceived lesser understanding to understand the subject can lead to isolation, anxiety, depression, etc. of the speaker, independent of their use of absolutist language.
For example, take someone who believes the world will end. They will likely speak in absolute words about the event. Other people might shy away from such a person, causing isolation. Absolutism and isolation might interact and reinforce each other, but neither would strictly cause the other.