Episodes
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Stories matter. Sharing insights into our personal experiences can help shift attitudes, particularly when it comes to mental health and disorder. This episode, Adam asks the audience to contribute their stories to help the Foundation for Evolution and Mental Health to impress the importance of the evolutionary psychiatry on the world!
If you have a story, whatever it may be, whether you are a patient, a parent, or a clinician, share it with us! Use the form on the Foundation website to upload a short video: https://www.femh.uk/activities/share-your-story-how-has-evolutionary-thinking-changed-how-you-see-mental-health
(or go to www.femh.uk 'Activities' page and find it there)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. He is the founding chair of the Foundation for Evolution and Mental 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 Biological Reviews, 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.
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Neuroscience is the flagship science of psychiatry, but hasn't led to the advances expected from it. In this episode, Adam discusses difficulties with neuroscience and possibilities for switching to a paradigm that can actually make progress.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. He is the founding chair of the Foundation for Evolution and Mental 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 Biological Reviews, 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.
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Missing episodes?
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Evolutionary theories are indeed... theories. But are they 'just' theories, in the derogatory sense? Or are they something more... In this episode Adam discusses this question.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. He is the founding chair of the Foundation for Evolution and Mental 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 Biological Reviews, 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.
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What different explanatory frameworks can make sense of depression? And what are their respective impacts?
Daniel Nettle is a behavioural scientist whose work bridges psychology, evolution, and public health. He a researcher in the Evolution and Social Cognition team at the Institut Jean Nicod, Paris as well as a Professor at Northumbria University. Much of his most recent research has examined how poverty, inequality, and social environments shape behaviour and mental health. He’s the author several books, including Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile and Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are, as well as a wide range of academic articles and research relating to evolutionary psychiatry, including on schizophrenia, early life stressors, depression and interpretation of different explanatory frameworks of mental disorder.
This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.
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Evolutionary perspectives on ADHD are often talked about: Annie Swanepoel shares how they affect her practice as a psychiatrist, and what evolutionary perspectives in general mean for the field.Dr Annie Swanepoel is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in North East London NHS Foundation Trust and holds a PhD in Human Physiology. She has played a longstanding role in the evolutionary psychiatry special interest group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, serving on the executive committee for many years, including being editor of the newsletter and finance officer. She has published multiple papers on evolution and ADHD.
The paper mentioned in this episode can be found here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/irish-journal-of-psychological-medicine/article/abs/evolutionary-perspectives-on-adhd/59AD1CA265F79F7EF978178361BC8E17
This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.
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Why do we get depressed? Is depression really functional? In this episode, Adam discusses an overarching hypothesis which captures many existing evolutionary hypotheses: that depression's original function is to disengage us from life.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. He is the founding chair of the Foundation for Evolution and Mental 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 Biological Reviews, 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.
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Why does low mood, and at extreme, depression, exist? What is its function? James Turner is a postdoctoral researcher at Umeå University. He completed his PhD in Philosophy in 2024 at the University of Sheffield; the title of his thesis was : Low mood: Evolution, Cognition and Disorder.He has a general research interest in cognitive science, evolutionary theory, and the philosophy of psychiatry. In particular, He is interested in the evolution of low mood, the nature of physical and psychological function and dysfunction, and recently he has been dabbling in the philosophy of AI.This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.
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New results show that clinicians respond positively to evolutionary explanations of anxiety. In this episode, Adam and Tom discuss some of the findings of their study "Clinicians' attitudes to evolutionary and genetic explanations for anxiety: a cluster-randomised study of stigmatisation". It is available to read here: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4kwrb_v2Tom Carpenter is a psychiatrist registrar in training in the West of Scotland, and a clinical lecturer at the University of Glasgow. He is the trainee representative on the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.
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Why dating apps can't last; defeating negative thinking; and exposure to sensible risk.
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair is a Clinical Psychologist and a Professor of Personality Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is Editor-in-Chief of the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology and was the Head of the Department of Psychology at NTNU. Kennair is an elected member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters and was appointed to the Norwegian Cabinet Committee on Women’s Health. His research interests are diverse, focusing on the effective treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as evolutionary psychology. He applies Sexual Strategies Theory to explore topics such as jealousy, regret, sexual harassment, mate preferences, and the use of dating apps. A topic close to his heart is the mystery of the evolution of mental disorder.
This podcast is financially supported by the Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.netMarco'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_PsychopathologyA presentation on the life history framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9OD5rYszgA paper and chapter debating the fast-slow continuum:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341325706_Rethinking_the_Fast-Slow_Continuum_of_Individual_Differenceshttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/380269033_A_Turning_Point_for_the_Life_History_Approach_to_Individual_DifferencesThis 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_StudiesA 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_effectsTwo papers on attachment from a modern evolutionary perspective:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322870667_Sex_Differences_in_Attachment_Styleshttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/346654707_Growing_Points_in_Attachment_Disorganization_Looking_Back_to_Advance_ForwardMike Abrams' book on evolutionarily-informed CBT:https://www.amazon.com/New-CBT-Mike-Abrams-author/dp/1516521625/
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Humans rely on each other. Mothers, in particular, need help raising children. In this episode we discuss Professor Alessandra Cassar's work seeking to understand how maternal depression relates to gaining social support. We also touch on where evolutionary perspectives may be useful in structuring society more widely.Alessandra Cassar is a professor of economics at the University of San Francisco. Through laboratory and field experiments across the world, her studies focus on the contributions of evolutionary processes to shaping human behavior. Her current research concentrates on the under-studied areas of female competitiveness; the consequences of conflict and disaster victimization for altruism, trust, religiosity, risk, and time preferences; and the role of social networks for economic outcomes.
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Why have humans evolved tendencies for substance addiction? In this episode, Adam and Tom discuss the evolutionary explanations for these vulnerabilities. The discussion is based on their paper "Evolutionary perspectives on substance and behavioural addictions: Distinct and shared pathways to understanding, prediction and prevention".Dr Tom Carpenter is a resident doctor in Psychiatry based in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. He is also a member of the executive committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh after initially studying Human Sciences at the University of Oxford, completing a Master’s degree in research in Animal Behaviour at Newcastle University, and having a brief career in marketing.He has worked in a specialist addictions service in Glasgow and currently works in an early intervention in psychosis service. He has current research and engagement projects around the usefulness and impact of evolutionary psychoeducation for mental health clinicians.
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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 Italian psychiatrist and researcher currently practicing at San Donato Arezzo Hospital and serving as a Visiting Researcher at King's College London. His work focuses on genetics and evolutionary psychiatry. He is the author of the popular science book "Il paradosso della schizofrenia" and multiple scientific papers.
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