How evolutionary thinking can help us to understand ADHD

Swanepoel, Annie; Music, Graham; Launer, John; Reiß, Michael

doi:10.1192/apt.bp.116.016659

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The young of many species need to be active early in life. Attention deficit disorder is partly related to the fact that we expect our children to be trapped in houses and schools for unreasonable time periods (Shelley‐Tremblay & Rosen, ; Swanepoel, Music, Launer, & Reiss, ). Agriculture drove a vast expansion of group size, introducing new social dynamics controlled by resource accumulating, aggressive males, and many civilizations in history, and nations today are still in the grip of such individuals with serious consequences for all.…”

Section: An Evolutionary Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotherapy for the 21st century: An integrative, evolutionary, contextual, biopsychosocial approach

Gilbert

2019

Psychol Psychother

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Fragmentation of processes and interventions plague the psychotherapies (Gilbert & Kirby, 2019 ). Part of the problem is that we have not agreed on a framework that could be the basis for integrating knowledge and the scientific enquiry of processes and interventions. This paper outlines an approach that brings together a variety of different disciplines in the service of consilience (Wilson, 1998 , Consilience: The unity of knowledge, Vintage, New York, NY; Siegel, 2019 ). It presents the importance of an evolutionary framework for understanding the proclivities and dispositions for mental suffering and antisocial behaviour, and how they are choreographed in different sociodevelopmental contexts. Building on earlier models (Gilbert, 1989 , Human nature and suffering, Routledge, London, UK; Gilbert, 1995 , Clin. Psychol. Psychother., 2, 135; Gilbert, 1998 , Br. J. Med. Psychol., 71, 353; Gilbert, 2016 , Case formulation in cognitive behaviour therapy: The treatment of challenging cases, Wiley, Chichester, UK, pp. 50–89) the call is for an integrative, evolutionary, contextual, biopsychosocial approach to psychology and psychotherapy. Practitioner points Evolutionary functional analysis is part of an evolutionary, contextual, biopsychosocial approach to mental health that can serve as a scientific platform for the future developments of psychotherapy. Therapist skills and training will increasing need to focus on the multidimensional textures of mental states especially the context‐social‐body linkages. Therapies of the future will also focus more on the moral aspects of therapy and address the need to promote prosocial and ethical behaviour to self and others.

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Section: An Evolutionary Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotherapy for the 21st century: An integrative, evolutionary, contextual, biopsychosocial approach

Gilbert

2019

Psychol Psychother

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“…We maintained that a model based on evolutionary thinking can deepen understanding and aid clinical practice by showing how behaviours, bodily responses and psychological beliefs frequently develop for ‘adaptive’ reasons, even when these ways of being might at first sight seem pathological. In our second article (Swanepoel 2017) we argued that current debates about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be considered afresh using an evolutionary lens. We showed how the symptoms of ADHD can often be considered adaptive to their specific environment and suggested that ADHD symptoms might frequently be understood best as a result of an ‘evolutionary mismatch’, in which current environmental demands do not fit with what evolution has prepared us to cope with.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?

Wren

Launer²,

Reiß

et al. 2019

BJPsych advances

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SUMMARYIssues of sexual reproduction lie at the core of evolutionary thinking, which often places an emphasis on how individuals attempt to maximise the number of successful offspring that they can produce. At first sight, it may therefore appear that individuals who opt for gender-affirming medical interventions are acting in ways that are evolutionarily disadvantageous. However, there are persuasive hypotheses that might make sense of such choices in evolutionary terms and we explore these here. It is premature to claim knowledge of the extent to which evolutionary arguments can usefully be applied to issues of gender identity, although worth reflecting on the extent to which nature tends towards diversity in matters of sex and gender. The importance of acknowledging and respecting different views in this domain, as well as recognising both the uncertainty and likely multiplicity of causal pathways, has implications for clinicians. We make some suggestions about how clinicians might best respond when faced with requests from patients in this area.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this article you will be able to: •understand evolutionary arguments about diversity in human gender identity•identify strengths and weaknesses in evolutionary arguments applied to transgender issues•appreciate the range and diversity of gender experience and gender expression among people who present to specialist gender services, as well as the likely complexities of their reasons for requesting medical intervention.

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“…Such behaviour, that would invariably have substantial negative impact on the children, is hard to think of as 'adaptive' in an evolutionary sense. And yet, as we have argued previously, in our paper on ADHD (Swanepoel et al, 2017), adaptation always depends on trade-offs, and in some circumstances the 'least worst' trade-off may be the best available. Clinicians and policy makers -taking the mother, the child and the environment into account -need to consider what might be desirable and feasible, both in society and for specific families, to lessen the mismatch.…”

Section: Addressing Reservations To An Evolutionary Approachmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…As a group of therapists and scholars interested in how evolutionary science might inform clinical work, we have been meeting regularly at the Tavistock Clinic for a number of years to look at ways that contemporary ideas about evolution can inform both theory and practice in the world of mental health. We have published articles looking at child development and behaviour (Swanepoel et al, 2016), ADHD (Swanepoel et al, 2017) and gender diversity and sexuality (Wren et al, 2019), proposing ways that evolutionary thinking might enhance other ways of understanding these areas and – most importantly – contribute to reducing stigma by making sense of feelings and behaviours that might otherwise seem merely aberrant. We believe this approach also has something of value to offer the understanding of child abuse and neglect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can an evolutionary perspective shed light on maternal abuse of children?

Wren

Launer

Music

et al. 2020

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

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Although the theory of evolution lies at the heart of contemporary biology, its influence on the study of child psychology and psychiatry has been limited. In earlier work we have argued that evolutionary thinking has much of value for clinicians. Here, we explore the possible significance of evolutionary theory for understanding child abuse by mothers, particularly neglect, emotional abuse and physical abuse. We draw on the research of anthropologists, primatologists and evolutionary theorists to make predictions about the environmental circumstances under which one would expect such abuse to be more prevalent. We discuss how in modern, Western cultures there is less understanding of the circumstances that may influence, even predispose, a mother to limit her emotional and material commitment to an infant or child. We use four short vignettes of clinical cases and one longer case description to illustrate the insights offered to clinicians by an evolutionary approach. We see our work both as contributing to greater understanding of these matters and as facilitating more compassionate models of care and intervention for women in such circumstances.

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How evolutionary thinking can help us to understand ADHD

Cited by 29 publications

References 61 publications

Psychotherapy for the 21st century: An integrative, evolutionary, contextual, biopsychosocial approach

Psychotherapy for the 21st century: An integrative, evolutionary, contextual, biopsychosocial approach

Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?

Can an evolutionary perspective shed light on maternal abuse of children?

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