Evolving Psychiatry

Social media, video games, gambling... why are some activities so rewarding that we become addicted? In this episode, we discuss the reason humans are susceptible to 'behavioural addictions', referencing our shared paper 'Evolutionary perspectives on substance and behavioural addictions: Distinct and shared pathways to understanding, prediction and prevention'. Dr. Giuseppe Pierpaolo Merola is an...

Depression is often linked to adversity: why would it reliably appear in such conditions? Ed Hagen has spent over forty years wondering about this question, and is one of the world's foremost researchers on evolutionary approaches to depression. We discuss depression in this interview. Ed Hagen is a Pofessor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Washington State University. Professor Hagen began his aca...

The past is invisible - how are we supposed to know the truth behind our evolutionary history? In this episode, Adam Hunt discusses the complexity of the reality behind our evolution, and the limits of science in telling these stories. Dr Adam Hunt is a postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge. He received his PhD in evolutionary biology and philosophy from the University of Zurich in...

In the Amazon rainforest, how would mental illness manifest? What is life in non-industrialised societies like? Camila Scaff discusses social life, loneliness, and her journey investigating mental health and disorder amongst the Tsimane of the Bolivian Amazon. Dr. Camila Scaff earned her PhD in Cognitive Sciences from the École Normale Supérieure - Paris Diderot University (now Université Paris Ci...

Why does severe trauma lead to PTSD? This episode considers work on combat stress and PTSD symptoms in Turkana warriors of North West Kenya, and how it relates to evolutionary explanations of PTSD symptoms. Matt Zefferman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He uses mathematical models and ethnographic field resea...

Evolutionary explanations of depression could change how we perceive the condition, and how depressed people perceive themselves. In this episode, clinical psychologist Hans Schroder discusses his experiences and research in providing functional explanations of depression to patients. Hans Schroder is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan (U-M) Medical School a...

Justin Garson is Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and a contributor for PsychologyToday.com and Aeon. He writes on the philosophy of madness, evolution of the mind, and purpose in nature. In this episode we discuss scientific concepts of dysfunction, the role of the paradigms framing psychiatry, and the possible benefits of evolutionar...

Joe Polimeni is a Canadian general psychiatrist and Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba who has conducted research in neuroscience, psychopharmacology and evolutionary psychiatry. His book, Shamans Among Us, outlines his hypothesis regarding the evolution of schizophrenia, which is the topic of this episode. You can purchase the book here: https://josephpolimeni.com/purchase.html You...

Jerome Wakefield is a professor of social work in the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. Much of his work is in the history and philosophy of psychiatry. He is renowned in evolutionary psychiatry for his "harmful dysfunction" analysis of mental illness. We discuss our evolved human nature and how we can designate 'disorder' given our understanding of biological...

Tom Carpenter is a trainee psychiatrist in the West of Scotland. He is the trainee representative on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In this episode, we discuss Tom's intellectual history, the place of psychiatry in society and how we judge people, and how evolutionary thinking may affect psychiatry going forw...

Gurjot Brar is a trainee psychiatrist in Ireland. He runs the 'Evolution and Psychiatry' substack, a monthly collaborative 'journal' dedicated to discussing and exploring how evolutionary science can inform our understanding of psychiatry. In this episode we discuss how Gurjot got introduced to evolutionary psychiatry and the major points he finds exciting about the field. You can...

Professor Henry O’Connell is a Consultant Psychiatrist working in Portlaoise, Ireland and Associate Clinical Professor with the School of Medicine at the University of Limerick. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin in 1997, he obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2001. He holds Masters and doctorate level postgraduate qualifications in medical education and delirium res...

Kristen Syme is an Assistant Professor of Suicide and Suicide Prevention at Leiden University. She is an evolutionary anthropologist who works on understanding suicidal and self harm behavior from an evolutionary perspective, and works with the Chon Chuuk of Micronesia and the USA. In this episode Kristen and Adam discuss cases of adolescent-parent conflict, the outcomes and evolutionary models wh...

Kristen Syme is an Assistant Professor of Suicide and Suicide Prevention at Leiden University. She is an evolutionary anthropologist who works on understanding suicidal and self harm behavior from an evolutionary perspective, and works with the Chon Chuuk of Micronesia and the USA. In this episode Kristen and Adam discuss the bargaining model of suicidal behavior and depression, especially regardi...

Season 2 of the Evolving Psychiatry Podcast begins with a brief comment on what's to come in the season, as Adam interviews psychiatrists and researchers who work in evolutionary psychiatry. Adam then discuss a fundamental theoretical advantage of evolutionary psychiatry and medicine, which is its ability to define health and disorder objectively. Adam Hunt is a PhD student researching evoluti...

Alfonso Troisi discusses how an evolutionary perspective should inform our measurement of clinical outcomes, the potential of evolutionary thinking to advance care, and his experience treating patients as an evolutionary psychiatrist.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Evolutionary Thinking and Clinical Care of Psychiatric Patients', authored by Alfonso Troisi. It is chapter 20 in th...

Adam Hunt considers how evolutionary thinking helps us understand criminal behaviour, circumstances leading to crime, blameworthiness and the chance to improve social outcomes.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'What the Evolutionary and Cognitive Sciences Offer the Sciences of Crime and Justice' authored by Brian B. Boutwell, Megan Suprenant and Todd K. Shackelford. It is chapter 19...

Martin Brüne talks through the paradox of why schizophrenia persists, how his view on its persistence has changed over the decades, and how an evolutionary approach informs us regarding treatment and prevention. This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Evolutionary Perspectives on Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders' authored by Martin Brüne. It is chapter 10 in the book 'Evolutionary Psychiatry: C...

Paul St-John Smith gives an evolutionary psychiatrist's perspective on using pharmaceuticals in treatment, thinks about the limits of rating scales and the usefulness of animal models, and how evolution adds necessary depth to the task of healing in psychiatry.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Psychopharmacology and Evolution', authored by Paul St John-Smith, Riadh Abed and Martin...

Molly Fox gives an insight into why evolution has left us vulnerable to Alzheimer's, what odd aspects of modern life may lead to increased rates of Alzheimer's, and how female reproductive health are a particularly important consideration.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Alzheimer’s Disease as a Disease of Evolutionary Mismatch, with a Focus on Reproductive Life History' authored...

Daniela Sieff talks about the difficulties and differences of rearing children in hunter gatherer societies and how child maltreatment can follow. She considers what this means for understanding, prevention and social intervention in the modern world.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Maternal Negativity and Child Maltreatment: How Evolutionary Perspectives Contribute to a Layered a...

Annie Swanepoel discusses why ADHD and autism may be unusually problematic in the modern world, the evolutionary reasons for them, and how an evolutionary perspective has affected her treatment of children and families with these conditions.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Evolutionary Perspectives on Neurodevelopmental Disorders', authored by Annie Swanepoel, Michael J. Reiss, Jo...

Annie Swanepoel discusses trauma and its effects through an evolutionary lens: when trauma is a useful signal, why it is exasperated in certain modern situations and what this means for understanding, treating and preventing trauma.   This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Evolutionary Perspectives on Childhood Trauma', authored by Annie Swanepoel, Michael J. Reiss, John Launer, Graham Mu...

Robin Dunbar discusses alcohol, its history with humans and primates, why it's so useful for bonding, and how novel circumstances have pushed it into being a drug of abuse.  This episode is based on a chapter titled 'The Social Function of Alcohol from an Evolutionary Perspective', authored by Robin Dunbar. It is chapter 13 in the book 'Evolutionary Psychiatry: Current Perspectives on Evoluti...

Paul St-John Smith talks about substance abuse, the propensity for humans to seek out substances, and how an evolutionary perspective can help us understand substance use and abuse.   This episode is based on a chapter titled 'Substance Abuse and Evolution' by Paul St John-Smith and Riadh Abed. It is chapter 11 in the book 'Evolutionary Psychiatry: Current Perspectives on Evolution and Mental...