This Article
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, A.
Right arrow Articles by Price, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, A.
Right arrow Articles by Price, J.
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2001) 178: 277-278
© 2001 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Correspondence

Evolutionary theory and psychiatry

A. Stevens and J. Price

Correspondence: c/o The British Journal of Psychiatry, 17 Belgrave Square, London SWIX 8PG

EDITED BY MATTHEW HOTOPF

Address supplied

While we welcome Abed's (2000) editorial and endorse the arguments presented in it, we feel that it gives an inadequate account of the important British contribution to the burgeoning new discipline of evolutionary psychiatry. Instead, it leaves one with the impression that Darwinian psychiatry is largely an American achievement and that Abed and Marks are the only home-grown contributors to it. This is unjust, as the application of evolutionary theory to psychiatric disorders began in this country 40 years ago at a time when American psychiatry was still in thrall to psychoanalysis and behaviourism. Bowlby's (1958) classic paper on the phylogeny of the child's bond to its mother and his life's work on the consequences of rupturing that bond for later psychopathology were seminal contributions to the development of the new evolutionary paradigm, as were Price's papers in the 1960s on social dominance and the evolution of mental illness (e.g. Price, 1967; further references in Stevens & Price, 2000a). Since then, British psychologists and psychiatrists have contributed as much to this fascinating field of enquiry as our American colleagues, whom Abed cites. In particular, we would draw attention to the work of Crow (1995) on the Darwinian approach to the origins of psychosis, Gilbert (1992) on depression and the evolution of powerlessness, and our own work on the evolutionary basis of the major neurotic, ‘functional’ psychotic, and reproductive disorders (Stevens & Price, 20000a), and the phylogeny of schizophrenia, (Stevens & Price, 2000b). In addition, significant work has been published by Archer (1992) on ethology and human development, Bailey (1987) on human palaeontology, and Birtchnell (1993) on how humans relate.

A major criticism advanced against ‘adaptionist’ explanations of psychiatric disorders is that they are untestable and therefore of little use; this is untrue. We have responded to this criticism by providing testable predictions based on evolutionary insights (Stevens & Price, 2000a. pp. 258-274). As Abed rightly suggests, scientific method requires "a theoretical framework that generates testable predictions", that "demands what questions to ask" and that "suggests what avenues of research are likely to bear fruit". Evolutionary psychiatry is now sufficiently advanced in this country for this programme to be implemented. Unfortunately, an uninformed reader would not have gathered this from Abed's editorial.

REFERENCES

  1. Abed, R. T. (2000) Psychiatry and Darwinism. Time to reconsider? British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 1-3.[Free Full Text]
  2. Archer, J. (1992) Ethology and Human Development. New York: Harvester/Wheatsheaf.
  3. Bailey, A. K. (1987) Human Paleopsychology: Applications to Aggression and Pathological Processes. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  4. Birtchnell, J. (1993) How Humans Relate: A New Interpersonal Theory. Westport, CN: Praeger.
  5. Bowlby, J. (1958) The nature of the child's tie to his mother. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 39, 350 -373.
  6. Crow, T. J. (1995) A Darwinian approach to the origins of psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 12-25.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  7. Gilbert, P. (1992) Depression: The Evolution of Powerlessness. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  8. Price, J. S. (1967) Hypothesis: the dominance hierarchy and the evolution of mental illness. Lancet, ii, 243 -246.
  9. Stevens, A. & Price, J. (2000a) Evolutionary Psychiatry: A New Beginning (2nd edn). London: Routledge.
  10. Stevens, A. & Price, J. (2000b) Prophets, Cults and Madness. London: Duckworth.




This Article
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, A.
Right arrow Articles by Price, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Stevens, A.
Right arrow Articles by Price, J.