kindle 2017-7-8
... we are now on the point of realizing Darwin’s own prophecy: ‘In the distant future I see open fields for far more important researches’, he wrote in the final pages of The Origin of Species. ‘Psychology will be based on a new foundation . . . Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.’ (kindle location 163/7101)
Challenging a medical model which has supplied few effective answers to long-standing conundrums, Evolutionary Psychiatry proposes a new conceptual framework for psychiatry based on Darwinian theory.
Anthony Stevens and John Price argue that psychiatric symptoms are manifestations of ancient adaptive strategies which are no longer necessarily appropriate but which can best be understood and treated in an evolutionary and developmental context. They propose theories to account for the widespread existence of affective disorders, borderline states and schizophrenia, as well as offering solutions for puzzles such as sadomasochism and the function of dreams.
This comprehensive introduction to the new science of Darwinian Psychiatry is readily accessible to both the specialist and non-specialist reader. It describes in detail the disorders and conditions commonly encountered in psychiatric practice and show how evolutionary theory can account for their biological origins and functional nature. (amazon)
