The use of psychedelics in psychiatric treatment – evolutionary perspectives

The only Special Interest Group with a Stack – Evolution, Psychiatry and the Substack Platform

“…

The Evolution and Psychiatry Special Interest Group as part of the College of Psychiatrists has been active since 2020 (Brar and O'Connell, 2024a). Since then, the group has produced a steady output of articles (Rafferty et al, 2023;Brar and O'Connell 2023;Brar and O'Connell, 2024b) and has hosted events with leading researchers, which have been uploaded onto the college's YouTube channel. We believe it may be useful for readers if we share our experiences on the successes and opportunities of online platforms in growing interest in lesser-known areas of psychiatry, such as evolutionary psychiatry, and building communities and knowledge bases in an ever-more online world.In May 2023, Henry O'Connell and Gurjot Brar (chair and vicechair of the Special Interest Group, respectively) began an online collaborative journal through the 'Substack' platform dedicated to discussing and exploring how evolutionary science can inform our understanding of psychiatry.

…”

Evolution and psychiatry: the formation of a special interest group

“…Also published was a review of Nesse's 'Good Reasons for Bad Feelings' in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine in 2021 (O'Connell et al 2021). Gurjot Brar, senior registrar, who has recently taken position as Vice-Chair has also started to write on the topic with Henry O'Connell, including a letter on evolutionary aspects of psychedelic drug use in psychiatry, published by the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (Brar & O'Connell, 2023). A review of Abed and St John-Smith's edited volume on Evolutionary Psychiatry has been accepted for publication by the British Journal of Psychiatry.…”