Darwinian Psychiatry

For years, psychiatry has operated without a unified theory of behavior; instead, it has spawned a pluralism of approaches--including biomedical, psychoanalytic, behavioral, and sociocultural models--each with radically different explanations for various clinical disorders. In Darwinian Psychiatry, Michael T. McGuire and Alfonso Troisi provide a conceptual framework for integrating many features of prevailing models. Based on Darwinian theory rather than traditional aproaches, the book offers clinicians a fundamentally new perspective for looking at the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Writing from this innovative theoretical position, the authors discuss the origin of pathological conditions, the adaptation of symptoms and syndromes, the biological basis of social relations, and many other key concepts. This groundbreaking book will introduce those who study and are involved in the alleviation of mental suffering to an approach that will lead to radical changes in clinical practice. The authors suggest that when making diagnostic assessments, psychiatrists should evaluate not only the patients' symptoms but also their functional capacities, and that therapeutic interventions should work toward the achievement of biological goals. Providing an essential framework for understanding both everyday human behavior and a range of mental disorders, Darwinian Psychiatry will appeal to all mental health professionals and general readers interested in human psychology and behavior.

I. Introduction
1: Darwinian psychiatry - the context
2: Diagnosing and explaining disorders/conditions
II. An evolutionary context for disorders
3: Evolutionary concepts important to psychiatry
4: A theory of behavior
5: Mechanisms, emotions, moods, symptoms, and affects
6: Information processing
7: Evolutionary models of disorders/conditions
8: Regulation-dysregulation theory
III. Disorders and conditions in evolutionary context
9: Personality disorders
10: Anorexia nervosa
11: Schizophrenia
12: Phobias
13: Other conditions
14: Dysthymic disorder: a study of infrastructural suboptimality
IV. Treatment in evolutionary context
15: Treatment in evolutionary context
V. Conclusion
16: Summary and conclusion