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33 - Are We on the Verge of Darwinian Psychiatry?

from Part VIII - Abnormal Behavior and Evolutionary Psychopathology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2020

By
Alfonso Troisi
Edited by
Lance Workman ,
Will Reader  and
Jerome H. Barkow
Lance Workman
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Will Reader
Affiliation:
Sheffield Hallam University
Jerome H. Barkow
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
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Summary

There are many general definitions of Darwinian psychiatry in academic textbooks (e.g., “Psychiatric disorders viewed in evolutionary context”; McGuire & Troisi, 1998, p. vii) and journal articles (e.g., “Any attempt to make sense of mental disorders within the general framework of contemporary evolutionary theory”; Adriaens & De Block, 2010, p. 132). The common theme of these definitions is that Darwinian psychiatry originates from the hybridization of two distant fields of research: psychopathology and evolutionary biology. For those who are not familiar with the concepts and methods of contemporary evolutionary biology (which is true for most mental health professionals), these definitions are unlikely to stimulate the curiosity to learn more about Darwinian psychiatry.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior , pp. 409 - 418
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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