On Review & Reflection
The founders/editors, Gurjot and Henry reflect on and review milestones and articles for the Substack to date
Dear Readers, as of writing this article we have surpassed 1000 subscribers and 1500 followers! We can’t thank you all enough!
A reminder that all articles, previous and upcoming, in the Evolution & Psychiatry Substack are free and will remain free. This supports our ongoing endevaour to bring evolutionary thinking to our understanding of mental health, disorder and illness to the widest readership possible, including clinical and non-clinical readers. Also a very huge thank you those who have become paid subscribers - this Substack is run entirely on passion by busy clinicans but your support means the world.
We hope you will discuss and share widely the fresh perspectives and concepts that others in this growing field are bringing to the table.
On that note, this article is a reflection of what we have achieved through 34 articles since beginning this journey over 18 months ago!
Clinical Case Series - 10/34
Interviews - 8/34
Conference/Event Coverage - 6/34
Primers and Essays - 10/34
Please let us know which format you enjoyed the most and what you would like to see more of in 2025 and beyond!
Wishing you the very best in the New Year,
Gurjot & Henry
Clinical Case Series - 10/34
We continued to add to our clinical case series, which brought the total number of cases to ten! This has been a collaborative effort over the last 18 months with Henry and myself including a few guest authors. We are looking forward to publishing this collection of cases so please watch this space!
Each case is written accessibly for all and introduces the reader to evolutionary perspectives on the mental disorder through a problem-based learning approach.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Clinical Case Series #1
Welcome to the first in a series of clinical cases, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory r…
Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD) - Clinical Case Series #2
Welcome to the second of our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory resp…
Depression - Clinical Case Series #3
Welcome to the third of our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory responding…
Delirium & Dementia - Clinical Case Series #4
Welcome to the fourth in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory respond…
Schizophrenia & Psychosis - Clinical Case Series #5
Welcome to the fifth in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory responding to the learning objectives.…
Alcohol & Substance Use Disorders - Clinical Case Series #6
Welcome to the sixth in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with t…
Eating Disorders - Clinical Case Series #7
Welcome to the seventh in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed wi…
Autism/ASD - Clinical Case Series #8
Welcome to the eighth in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory resp…
Anxiety Disorders - Clinical Case Series #9
Welcome to the ninth in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory re…
Personality Disorders - Clinical Case Series #10
Welcome to the tenth in our clinical case series, exploring common mental disorders through the lens of evolutionary psychiatry. A ‘problem-based learning’ (PBL) approach is taken with learning outcomes defined at the outset, followed by several clinical encounters with fictional scenarios, interspersed with theory responding to the learning objectives.…
Interviews - 8/34
We interviewed a diverse and wide range of scholars and researchers, with many more scheduled in the pipeline!
The Hypercuriosity Theory of ADHD
It is an absolute pleasure to introduce to our readers Anne-Laure Le Cunff who recently published a paper in Evolutionary Psychological Science titled:
A Leading Light in Evolutionary Psychiatry - Dr Riadh Abed, FRCPsych
It was absolutely incredible talking with Riadh who has been a leading light and eminent scholar in Evolutionary Psychiatry. In addition to publishing for nearly three decades in the field, Riadh has been instrumental in the founding of the first Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group in the world with the Royal College of …
The Modified Aberrant Salience Hypothesis (MASH) for Psychosis
It is a real pleasure to introduce to our readers, Dr Costa Savva and Dr Benjamin Griffin who recently published a paper titled: “Towards a Unified Account of Aberrant Salience in Psychosis: Proximate and Evolutionary Mechanisms”
Evolution & Psychiatry: A Career Long Passion
It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with Henry and interview him for this very special article which commemorates the Evolution & Psychiatry Substack’s first year since its inception on May 5th, 2023 with “What is Evolutionary Psychiatry?”:
A Conversation with Dr Eimear McGuire
Hi Eimear, it’s lovely to have you on the Substack so thank you for doing this, I wonder if we can begin by you telling us how you got interested in Psychiatry and where you’re working currently?
Evolutionary Psychiatry & Laith Al-Shawaf
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! Perhaps we can begin by you introducing yourself for those who don’t know you?
Evolving Psychiatry & Adam Hunt
Hi Adam, thank you for taking the time to speak with me perhaps we could begin by you introducing yourself for those who don’t know you?
Banging the drum: evolutionary and cultural origins of music and its implications for psychiatry
The above article was recently published by the BJPsych Bulletin.
Conference/Event Coverage - 6/34
6 major events across the UK, Ireland and Sicily!
6th International Symposium at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK
Dear Readers, for this month’s article I round up some of the highlights from the 6th International Symposium which took place at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK.
4th Oct 2024 - 3 Irish triumphs for Evolutionary Psychiatry
‘Everybody has won, and all must have prizes’
The ISEMPH 2024 Evolutionary Psychiatry Meeting in Durham, UK
The International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health held a conference in Durham, UK last week. Part of this conference included a meeting over two days focused on Evolutionary Psychiatry with several notable figures in the field.
Towards a new science of mental disorders: bridging evolution and genetics
Dr Adam Hunt has been working on evolutionary psychiatry since 2016, and is soon joining the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher. He earned his PhD in 2024 from the University of Zurich for his dissertation ‘Evolving Evolutionary Psychiatry and Explaining Neurodiversity’. He is on the executive committee of the Royal College of Psychiat…
Evolution at Westminster Abbey & A Recent Evolutionary Psychiatry Meeting in London
Dear Readers, we have a special article today following a recent meeting on Friday March 1st where we had the second annual Trainee meeting arranged by the Trainee Committee and Riadh Abed in the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Primers and Essays - 10/34
Why do Humans use Drugs? - Part 1
Our sincerest thanks to Paul St John-Smith and Riadh Abed for their advice, knowledge and expertise not only in the production of this article but for everything they do for the field.
Evolution — Definition and Implications (Part 2)
Dr Tuffery is a retired lecturer in Physiology with about 40 years experience teaching and examining in Health Sciences and Science. This includes many different types of writing, from short-answer examination questions and essays to literature reviews, final-year dissertations and PhD theses.
Evolution — Definition and Implications (Part 1)
Dr Tuffery is a retired lecturer in Physiology with about 40 years' experience teaching and examining in Health Sciences and Science. This includes many different types of writing, from short-answer examination questions and essays to literature reviews, final-year dissertations and PhD theses.
Evolution, Psychiatry & the Environment (Green Psychiatry & Biophilia)
This article was inspired by one of the keynote talks at the Annual Conference 2023 of the Maltese Association of Psychiatry in Novemeber 2023 delivered by Henry himself.
From Ancient Rituals to Social Media; The Emergence of Self-harm Cultures
Edited by Dr Gurjot Brar & Prof. Henry O’Connell
Attachment Theory and Evolutionary Psychiatry
Dr Gerry Rafferty provides a personal and professional reflection on Attachment Theory and its relevance to Evolutionary Psychiatry.
Evolution – basic principles & applications to health and illness
"Evolution and Psychiatry: Clinical Cases" is available hereThanks for reading Evolution and Psychiatry! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Personal and professional reflections on the power of an evolutionary perspective
*College of Psychiatrists of Ireland
What is Evolutionary Psychiatry?
Evolutionary psychiatry seeks to blend the theory of evolution with current understanding of mental disorders. It has it primordial roots in ethology and biology, furthered by evolutionary psychology and medicine, which are gaining much traction in recent times (
Our goal is to keep bringing evolutionary perspectives to the understanding of mental health, disorder and illness. We look forward to where this journey may take us in 2025 and can’t wait to share some of the planned articles with you.
Wishing you the very best in the New Year,
Gurjot & Henry
If you enjoyed this article and would like to discover more about Evolutionary Psychiatry please consider:
subscribing to our Substack to receive regular content updates
visiting the webpage of the Evolution and Psychiatry Special Interest Group within the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland
visiting the webpage of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group within the Royal College of Psychiatrists
exploring a Youtube playlist on curated presentations by the Evolution and Psychiatry Special Interest Group within the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland
exploring the Youtube page of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group within the Royal College of Psychiatrists
exploring the Evolving Psychiatry podcast