Evolving Psychiatry

Adam Hunt
  • 5.0 (2)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED DAILY
Evolving Psychiatry

Evolutionary psychiatry offers evolutionary explanations for the range of mental health conditions identified by psychiatry today. The Evolving Psychiatry podcast provides interviews, insights and an introduction to evolutionary psychiatry, with guest appearances from leading academics and psychiatrists.

  1. MAY 9

    The History of The Field (and Prof. Nesse) | Randolph Nesse | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #46

    A special episode on how evolutionary psychiatry and medicine came to be. Randolph Nesse, father of the field, gives an overview of his background, what it was like having to try and build a field before the internet, and the people who helped him along the way...Dr. Randolph “Randy” Nesse is a physician-scientist who helped launch the field of evolutionary medicine, showing how asking why our bodies and minds are vulnerable can guide better care. After nearly 40 years on the psychiatry faculty at the University of Michigan, he moved to Arizona State University to found and direct the Center for Evolution & Medicine, where he continues as a research professor. Randy co-authored the landmark bestseller Why We Get Sick and, more recently, Good Reasons for Bad Feelings, which brings an evolutionary lens to mental health. He also founded the International Society for Evolution, Medicine & Public Health.This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    1h 7m

  2. MAR 21

    Deciding between hypotheses | Adam Hunt | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #45

    Stories abound in evolutionary psychology and psychiatry. How do we test them? In this third and final episode in this special series, Adam Hunt presents a way to standardise evolutionary hypothesis testing to make it more rigorous, reliable and systematic. The article is available, open access, here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.70010 A summary blog post can be found here: https://www.adamhunt.info/post/the-dcide-framework-published-in-biological-reviews Dr Adam Hunt is a researcher in the emerging field of evolutionary psychiatry at the Leverhulme Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. Since 2019 he has served on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also sits on the board of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’ received Summa Cumme Laude from the University of Zurich in spring 2024. He has published multiple academic articles in journals such as Autism Research and Evolutionary Human Sciences on a range of topics, including how evolutionary psychiatry supports the concept of neurodiversity and how evolutionary theory explains individual differences in cognition and dissolves the distinction between psychopathology and personality. He has lectured and trained psychiatrists and psychotherapists in evolutionary psychiatry. This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    1h 34m

  3. MAR 21

    Hunting for function behind disorder (Part 2) | Adam Hunt | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #44

    Trying to explain disorders as functional is tempting, but often misses a critical point: sometimes it is not the disorder itself which is functional, but it is occurring as a by-product of a different adaptive system. In this second part of this special three part series, Adam Hunt explains this common confusion and the steps we can take to solve it. The article which this episode is based on is available, open access, here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.70010 A summary blog post can be found here: https://www.adamhunt.info/post/the-dcide-framework-published-in-biological-reviews Dr Adam Hunt is a researcher in the emerging field of evolutionary psychiatry at the Leverhulme Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. Since 2019 he has served on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also sits on the board of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’ received Summa Cumme Laude from the University of Zurich in spring 2024. He has published multiple academic articles in journals such as Autism Research and Evolutionary Human Sciences on a range of topics, including how evolutionary psychiatry supports the concept of neurodiversity and how evolutionary theory explains individual differences in cognition and dissolves the distinction between psychopathology and personality. He has lectured and trained psychiatrists and psychotherapists in evolutionary psychiatry. This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    1h 12m

  4. MAR 21

    An impossible science? (Part 1) | Adam Hunt | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #43

    Evolution has already happened, and we don't have a time machine: how can we test hypotheses about that process? This is a criticism raised since Darwin's time. In this special three part series, Adam Hunt presents his article which aims to make progress on this scientific methodology by providing an improved framework for evolutionary inference. This episode kicks off by giving the history of the problem. The article which this episode is based on is available, open access, here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.70010 A summary blog post can be found here: https://www.adamhunt.info/post/the-dcide-framework-published-in-biological-reviews Dr Adam Hunt is a researcher in the emerging field of evolutionary psychiatry at the Leverhulme Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. Since 2019 he has served on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also sits on the board of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’ received Summa Cumme Laude from the University of Zurich in spring 2024. He has published multiple academic articles in journals such as Autism Research and Evolutionary Human Sciences on a range of topics, including how evolutionary psychiatry supports the concept of neurodiversity and how evolutionary theory explains individual differences in cognition and dissolves the distinction between psychopathology and personality. He has lectured and trained psychiatrists and psychotherapists in evolutionary psychiatry. This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    45 min

  5. FEB 26

    Tech and Mental Health | Tanay Katiyar | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #42

    Social media is bad for mental health right? Well... it's more complicated than that. In this episode, we discuss the ways in which novel digital technologies can also improve mental health, and how an evolutionary perspective on tech helps illuminate its dual effects of harming and healing.Tanay Katiyar is a PhD student, co-supervised by Amy Orben and Nikhil Chaudhary, at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBU) and the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. Drawing on frameworks from cognitive science, evolutionary psychiatry and anthropology, he is currently investigating how our contemporary living conditions and digital environments both protect from and leave us vulnerable to mental health problems in novel ways. He studied economics as an undergraduate in India, and then did his masters in cognitive science at the ecole normale superieure in Paris. He is also a host of the Cognitations podcast, which is dedicated to cognitive science and interviews many renowned scholars across the psychological sciences. This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    1h 26m

  6. FEB 13

    For the Good of the Group? | Adam Hunt | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #41

    Did mental disorders evolve to provide benefits to the community around us? Well, maybe, but these sorts of explanations could be criticised as naive 'group selection'. In this episode Adam goes into the nuance of understanding how evolution actually works in this common area of debate.Dr Adam Hunt is a researcher in the emerging field of evolutionary psychiatry at the Leverhulme Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. Since 2019 he has served on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also sits on the board of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’ received Summa Cumme Laude from the University of Zurich in spring 2024.He has published multiple academic articles in journals such as Autism Research and Evolutionary Human Sciences on a range of topics, including how evolutionary psychiatry supports the concept of neurodiversity and how evolutionary theory explains individual differences in cognition and dissolves the distinction between psychopathology and personality. He has lectured and trained psychiatrists and psychotherapists in evolutionary psychiatry.This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    39 min

  7. FEB 4

    Autism, Evolution, Neurodiversity | Adam Hunt | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #40

    Why did the human species evolve autism? What about different forms of autism? How does an evolutionary perspective align with the neurodiversity movement? Dr Adam Hunt is a researcher in the emerging field of evolutionary psychiatry at the Leverhulme Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. Since 2019 he has served on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also sits on the board of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’ received Summa Cumme Laude from the University of Zurich in spring 2024. He has published multiple academic articles in journals such as Autism Research and Evolutionary Human Sciences on a range of topics, including how evolutionary psychiatry supports the concept of neurodiversity and how evolutionary theory explains individual differences in cognition and dissolves the distinction between psychopathology and personality. He has lectured and trained psychiatrists and psychotherapists in evolutionary psychiatry. This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.

    1h 28m

  8. JAN 24

    Personality and Psychopathology | Marco Del Giudice | Evolving Psychiatry Podcast #39

    Why do autism and schizophrenia exist? What are 'fast and slow' life history strategies? What are controversies and opportunities facing the field of evolutionary psychiatry? In this episode, we go deep with Marco Del Giudice... Dr. Marco Del Giudice is an Associate Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste, Italy. His interdisciplinary research sits at the crossroads of human behavior, evolution, and development, and has led to integrative models such as the Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM) of stress responsivity, an evolutionary-developmental model of sex differences in attachment, and a unifying life history framework for evolutionary psychopathology. His work spans personality, motivation, attachment styles, developmental plasticity, and more recently, evolutionary immunology. Awarded the 2016 Early Career Award by the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Dr. Del Giudice Is well known for pushing boundaries in understanding how evolution shapes our minds and behaviors, and his work in evolutionary psychiatry is well known, particularly for his book ‘Evolutionary Psychopathology’. Relevant Links: Marco's website: https://marcodg.net Marco's book on evolutionary psychopathology: https://www.amazon.com/Evolutionary-Psychopathology-Marco-Del-Giudice/dp/0190246847/ A recent summary of the life history framework: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352815026_An_Integrative_Evolutionary_Framework_for_Psychopathology A presentation on the life history framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9OD5rYszg A paper and chapter debating the fast-slow continuum: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341325706_Rethinking_the_Fast-Slow_Continuum_of_Individual_Differences https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380269033_A_Turning_Point_for_the_Life_History_Approach_to_Individual_Differences This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich. A paper on developmental models of plasticity vs. behavior genetics: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298693600_Differential_Susceptibility_to_the_Environment_Are_Developmental_Models_Compatible_With_the_Evidence_From_Twin_Studies A paper explaining why the effect of the shared environment are typically underestimated: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352414100_Are_we_comparing_apples_or_squared_apples_The_proportion_of_explained_variance_exaggerates_differences_between_effects Two papers on attachment from a modern evolutionary perspective: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322870667_Sex_Differences_in_Attachment_Styles https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346654707_Growing_Points_in_Attachment_Disorganization_Looking_Back_to_Advance_Forward Mike Abrams' book on evolutionarily-informed CBT: https://www.amazon.com/New-CBT-Mike-Abrams-author/dp/1516521625/

    2h 22m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Evolutionary psychiatry offers evolutionary explanations for the range of mental health conditions identified by psychiatry today. The Evolving Psychiatry podcast provides interviews, insights and an introduction to evolutionary psychiatry, with guest appearances from leading academics and psychiatrists.

Information

  • Creator
    Adam Hunt
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Adam Hunt
  • Show Website
    Evolving Psychiatry

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