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Getting to the bottom of things: The value of evolutionary approaches in discerning the origin of psychopathology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Jiaqing O
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3UX, United Kingdom. ojthehuman@gmail.comhttp://www.aber.ac.uk/en/psychology/staff-profiles/listing/profile/jio2
Martin Brüne
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital Bochum, Division of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatric Preventive Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44791 Bochum, Germany. martin.bruene@ruhr-uni-bochum.dehttp://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/mibra/bruene.html

Abstract

The network approach as a novel way of understanding psychopathology has helped address some of the existing issues associated with traditional biological interpretations. Nonetheless, it has similarly failed in explaining the fundamental etiology of mental conditions – a persistent conundrum that arguably could be adequately addressed only by evolutionary formulations, specifically evolutionary mismatch and life history theories.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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