Evolving Psychiatry (@evolvingpsychiatry)

Why depression might not be a "malfunction" 🧠 What if depression isn't your brain breaking, but your brain protecting you? The "disengagement framework" suggests depression evolved as a signal: when you're stuck pursuing unreachable goals or investing in dead-end situations, your brain hits the…

Stone tools, social networks, symbols, and learning. Dr Michael Tracy explores the key cognitive differences between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals—and why small mental shifts may have had big evolutionary consequences. #biologytok #ScienceTok #psychology #mentalhealth #psychologyfacts…

In this video, Dr Annie Swanepoel breaks down the four major attachment styles — secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganised — and explains how early caregiving wires our nervous system for connection. She shows how these patterns affect adult relationships, why certain dynamics feel so familiar…

What if we could define disease by asking "what's broken?" 🔬 Dr. James Turner explains how thinking about biological functions gives us a clearer way to understand what makes something a disease vs. just a variation. When your heart's function fails, when your immune system can't do its job, when…

Why would a tiny parasite change the way humans think and behave? In this video, Dr Martin Brüne explains the fascinating research on Toxoplasma gondii—a common parasite that can subtly alter host behaviour—and its possible links to schizophrenia. He breaks down what the evidence actually shows…

Is depression a brain disease — or an evolved disengagement signal? In this video, Dr. James Turner and Dr. Adam Hunt break down two major scientific models: 🧠 The Brain-Disease Model: Low serotonin, disrupted circuits, chronic stress — when mood systems malfunction, symptoms follow. 🌿 The…

Dr. James Turner explains how low mood might have evolved as a signal to disengage — to pull back from goals or environments that aren’t paying off. Rather than a “malfunction,” depression could sometimes be an adaptive pause, redirecting our energy and attention toward more fruitful paths. 🧠…

How could we reduce depression at the societal level—not just treat it once it appears? Here, Dr. Adam Hunt discusses how changes to community design, education, work culture, and our approach to meaning and cooperation could lower rates of depression over time. The challenge, he argues, isn’t…

When is it helpful to call depression a medical illness—and when might that label backfire? In this video, Dr Hans Schroder explores both sides of medicalising depression: how it can reduce blame and stigma by framing symptoms as treatable, yet also risk narrowing our view of human distress to…

Dr. Leif Kennair explores how cultures of mental health can pull in two very different directions: ➡️ Cultures of Safety emphasise comfort, protection, and the removal of distress — but risk reducing resilience. ➡️ Cultures of Mastery encourage challenge, exploration, and skill-building…

New research suggests that social rituals—from shared meals to group walks—can do more than build bonds. 🧠✨ In this clip, Dr. Nikhil Chaudhary explains how regular, meaningful social practices may support mental health by fulfilling deep evolutionary needs for connection and belonging…

Why do mental disorders exist at all? In this video, Dr Riadh Abed explains how evolutionary theory helps make sense of psychiatric conditions — not as random malfunctions, but as outcomes of systems that once served adaptive purposes. By looking at how emotions, cognition, and behaviour evolved…

Why can’t we model the body like a machine? Dr. Randy Nesse explains: mechanical systems are designed, predictable, and built from the top down. But evolved organic systems—like our brains and bodies—are messy, full of trade-offs, feedback loops, and adaptations layered over millions of years. To…

Imagine living as a hunter-gatherer. Your day wasn’t spent in one place or one job, but flowing between many tasks. You’d wake with your band — maybe 20 to 50 people — and start with simple food gathering, checking traps, collecting plants. The work hours? Much shorter than today. There was time…

✨ Psychiatrist Dr. Randy Nesse explains why many mental disorders aren’t just “malfunctions.” The emotions behind them—like anxiety or low mood—were often useful in our evolutionary past. But in today’s modern world, these once-adaptive responses can become mismatched, leading to distress and…

Ever wondered what a day in the life of our hunter-gatherer ancestors really looked like? 🌍⏳ Dr. Nikhil Chaudhary takes us on a 24-hour journey — from dawn foraging to evening storytelling — the rhythms of our shared human past. #evolutionarypsychology #anthropology #mentalhealth…

Why hasn’t schizophrenia disappeared through evolution? Dr. Martin Brüne breaks down the schizophrenia paradox — a puzzling question in evolutionary psychiatry. If it’s so disabling… why is it still around? Could there be hidden advantages? Trade-offs? Ancestral traits gone awry? Explore the…

They were once our closest relatives — the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Dr. Michael Tracy explores how these populations declined, why they went extinct, and what their story tells us about the survival of Homo sapiens. #history#anthropology#neanderthal #denisovansans #evolution#humanity…

40,000 years ago, humans were already recognisably “us”—hunter-gatherers with art, tools, rituals, and complex social lives. But the world they lived in could not be more different. In this short, Dr Derek Tracy compares the challenges and resilience of ancient humanity with the realities of our…

What if some symptoms of mental illness aren’t just ‘errors’, but signals shaped by evolution? Evolutionary psychiatry explores why conditions like anxiety, depression, or ADHD exist—and how understanding their roots can reshape treatment. By seeing stress or low mood as ancient defence systems…

Every mind is unique. Evolutionary psychiatry reminds us that our traits don’t lock us into one path—they open possibilities. In this clip, Dr. Adam Hunt (University of Cambridge) explains why making the most of our specialisations is key to human thriving. #EvolutionaryPsychiatry #MentalHealth…

Ever wondered why we connect the way we do? Psychiatrist Dr. Annie Swanepoel breaks down the science of attachment styles — secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized — and how they shape our relationships. #psychologyfacts #psychology #attachmentstyle #attachmentstyles #evolutionarypsychology…

Feeling anxious? Psychiatrist Dr. Gurjot Brar explains how evolutionary psychiatry can help us understand anxiety not as a flaw — but as an adaptive signal that sometimes gets stuck. Here’s how that insight can change treatment 👇 #Psychology #culturalanthropology #psychologytok #neurospicy…

Dr. Michael Tracey breaks down the moment in our history when culture, art, language, and complex social life exploded into being — around 60,000 years ago. Why did it happen? And what does it tell us about who we really are? #Psychology #culturalanthropology #psychologytok #neurospicy #Evolution…

Ever wondered why we feel anxiety, depression, or panic? Dr. Randy Nesse says they might not be malfunctions — they could be evolution’s way of protecting us. 👀 Watch as he explains: “Good Reasons for Bad Feelings” 👇 #EvolutionaryPsychology #MentalHealth #DrNesse #GoodReasonsBadFeelings…

In this short clip, Dr. Riadh Abed explains how an evolutionary approach to psychiatry can offer psychiatrists powerful new tools—not by immediately replacing existing methods, but in the short term, providing deeper models for understanding mental disorders. In the longer term, this 'new lens'…

Ever wondered why Depression exists? Evolutionary psychiatry suggests it might be an ancient signal—a way for humans to show they're in serious distress when words aren't enough. Not just sadness. Not laziness. A costly signal: something so visible, so hard to fake, that others have to take it…

🧠✨ "Did you know understanding evolution could help ease depression stigma? Dr. Adam Hunt explains how a groundbreaking new study found that learning evolutionary reasons behind depression can actually reduce self-blame and shame. 🌱🔬 Let's unpack how nature shaped our minds—and why it matters!"…

Humans and Great Apes possess a rare natural ability - the ability to extract calories from rotting ('fermented') food sources. But why is this? And how did the curious side product of fermented food sources - alcohol - and it's psychoactive effects, possibly come to influence the course of our…

"Is social media an evolutionary mismatch? 🧠📱 Our brains evolved in small, close-knit groups—but now, we're navigating infinite scrolls, viral trends, and instant validation. Could this be hijacking our natural reward systems? Let’s break it down! 👇 #Psychology #Evolution #SocialMedia…