Evolutionary Psychiatry
The aims of the Section on Evolutionary Psychiatry (EP) include raising awareness of the importance of evolutionary biology to psychiatry and encouraging research into domains that can be meaningfully understood if viewed from an evolutionary perspective. These include gene-environment interactions, ecological aspects, social inter-actions and nonverbal behaviour, and the interactions between the immune system, the microbiome, and the central nervous system. <br><br>
The section fosters cross-disciplinary networking with evolutionary scientists across a range of academic specialities as well as collaboration with national EP associations around the world. Our section advocates for the inclusion of evolutionary biology as a basic science into both undergraduate medical education and psychiatric training curricula around the world. The evolutionary approach seeks to extend the concept of causation to incorporate phylogenetic as well as adaptational (functional) causes of mental disorders (referred to as ultimate causes) alongside the proximate causes familiar to current mainstream psychiatry.
The section fosters cross-disciplinary networking with evolutionary scientists across a range of academic specialities as well as collaboration with national EP associations around the world. Our section advocates for the inclusion of evolutionary biology as a basic science into both undergraduate medical education and psychiatric training curricula around the world. The evolutionary approach seeks to extend the concept of causation to incorporate phylogenetic as well as adaptational (functional) causes of mental disorders (referred to as ultimate causes) alongside the proximate causes familiar to current mainstream psychiatry.
Section Officers
Chair
Riadh Abed
Retired Consultant Psychiatrist, Medical Member of the Mental Health Tribunals, Ministry of Justice
UK
Contact here
Secretary
Henry O’Connell
Consultant Psychiatrist and Associate Clinical Professor (UL), Triogue Community Mental Health Centre
Bridge Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Ireland
Contact here
Section member list can be found here
Section activities
The Section of Evolutionary Psychiatry is pleased to announce its forthcoming second bimonthly evolutionary webinar series starting in November 2022. Registration is free of charge by clicking on the hyperlinks. All interested colleagues from all disciplines are welcome.
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Thursday 30 November 2023, 6pm GMT: Dr Laith Al-Shawaf – An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Emotions
Register here -
Thursday 25 January 2024, 6pm GMT: Prof Paul Gilbert – Evolution and Compassion Focused Therapy
Register here -
Thursday 28 March 2024, 6pm GMT: Prof Jerome Wakefield – The Loss of Sadness and the Pathologizing of Grief: Are We Medicalizing Normal Human Emotions?
Register here -
Thursday 30 May 2024, 7pm BST: Prof Nichola Raihani – Evolutionary Perspectives on Paranoia and Suspiciousness
Cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances - Thursday 28 November 2024, 6pm GMT via Zoom: James Turner – \"Rethinking Depression: What Philosophy Teaches Us About Depression\'s Status as a Dysfunction\"
- Thursday 30 January 2025, 6pm GMT via Zoom: Leif Kennair – \"Mental disorders: is sustained negative emotional processing adaptive?\"
- Thursday 27 March 2025, 6pm GMT via Zoom: Daniel Nettle – \"Depression: Where do we locate the causation?\"
- Thursday 29 May 2025, 6pm BST via Zoom: Molly Fox – \"Evolutionary Perspectives on Alzheimer’s Disease\"
Recommended readings
Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry
Author: Randolph Nesse
Evolutionary Psychiatry - Current Perspectives on Evolution and Mental Health
Edited by: Riadh Abed and Paul St. John Smith
Evolution and Psychiatry - Clinical Cases
Edited by: Renry O\'Connell
