| Many academicians and mental health professionals from various disciplines have questioned the origins of human mental conditions typically labeled mental illnesses or psychiatric disorders. Of concern, however, is the division between and within disciplines over what actually constitutes such an illness or disorder. There are numerous reasons for such ideological and scientific differences including, but not limited to: an abundance of conceptually disparate and unanchored theories, research findings, and clinical experiences. The author argues that psychiatric and psychological science is too isolated from the biological and life sciences and that a bridge between them is long overdue. Furthermore, academicians, mental health professionals and their clients would benefit from a more thorough understanding of human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. The author reviews the importance of and resistance to cross-disciplinary scholarship. Human depression is used as an illustration of how the evolutionary perspective can be utilized to understand human behavior and psychopathology. Specifically, the author demonstrates that depression can often be understood to serve an adaptive, functional purpose. This new evolutionary-informed paradigm has direct treatment, research, and policy implications. |
