What are the origins of human psychopathology? Is mental illness a relatively recent phenomenon, or has it been with us throughout evolution?

In Origins of Psychopathology, Horacio Fárega Jr. employs principles of evolutionary biology to better understand the significance of mental illness. He explores whether what psychiatry has categorized as mental disorders could have existed during earlier phases of human evolution. Fábrega approaches the prominent features of mental disorders as adaptive responses to the environment and life’s circumstances, which in turn can only be understood in the context of our evolutionary past. Taking his cue from theoretical issues raised by research into primate behavior and early hominid evolution, he poses the question: What, if any, aspects of mental illness are rooted in our evolution? Does mental illness occur in primates and other animals, and if so, what does this tell us about mental illness in human evolution? How has mental illness played an adaptive role? How has the development of language and higher cognitive functions affected characteristics of psychopathology?  Fábrega synthesizes insights from both the clinical and the evolutionary points of view. This facet of psychopathology, which involves its origins and manifestations viewed across the expanse of human evolution, has, until now, been largely neglected in psychiatric education, theory, and practice.

HORACIO FÁBREGA F JR., M.D. is a professor of psychiatry and anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of Disease and Social Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, Evolution of Sickness and Healing, and coauthor of Illness and Shamanistic Curing in Zincatan.

àthis is a well written book. And though it may be a struggle for some non-academic readers, I believe anyone interested in the relationship between animal behavior, the biological, cultural, and ecological evolution of humankind, and what we humans consider to be psychopathology is likely to find it well worth the effort.

A complex and comprehensive book on what evolutionary theory might contribute to our understanding of mental illness and, to a lesser extent, what mental illness might contribute to human evolution. Biopsychosocial perspectives are summarized over a time span extending back millions of years to our hominid ancestorsàAn original contribution.

No one has quite taken the author's approach before. And there are few authors who would dare. Not only is the author courageous and skilled at the task he sets for himself, but he also develops a set of compelling arguments and hypotheses. The result is a remarkable book annotated by careful and insightful scholarship, the development of novel ideas, the presentation of counterintuitive hypotheses, and it is an easy and compelling read. No one will agree with all that is written in Origins, but no student of psychopathology should pass on this book. Origins is a fascinating and novel reconstruction of psychopathology's past and its influence on the present.

A well-written book. . . . I believe anyone interested in the relationship between animal behavior, the biological, cultural and ecological evolution of humankind, and what we humans consider to be psychopathology is likely to find it well worth the effort.

A well-written book. . . . I believe anyone interested in the relationship between animal behavior, the biological, cultural and ecological evolution of humankind, and what we humans consider to be psychopathology is likely to find it well worth the effort.

àthis is a well written book. And though it may be a struggle for some non-academic readers, I believe anyone interested in the relationship between animal behavior, the biological, cultural, and ecological evolution of humankind, and what we humans consider to be psychopathology is likely to find it well worth the effort.

No one has quite taken the author's approach before. And there are few authors who would dare. Not only is the author courageous and skilled at the task he sets for himself, but he also develops a set of compelling arguments and hypotheses. The result is a remarkable book annotated by careful and insightful scholarship, the development of novel ideas, the presentation of counterintuitive hypotheses, and it is an easy and compelling read. No one will agree with all that is written in Origins, but no student of psychopathology should pass on this book. Origins is a fascinating and novel reconstruction of psychopathology's past and its influence on the present.

A complex and comprehensive book on what evolutionary theory might contribute to our understanding of mental illness and, to a lesser extent, what mental illness might contribute to human evolution. Biopsychosocial perspectives are summarized over a time span extending back millions of years to our hominid ancestorsàAn original contribution.