Evolutionary Psychiatry SIG events

Evo-Talk - An Introduction to Evolutionary Psychiatry for Resident Doctors/Trainees

Thursday 19 February 2026

EPSIG Trainee Workshop

EPSIG 6th International Symposium

Joint event with the Philosophy SIG: an afternoon with Dr Iain McGilchrist 

EPSIG Trainee Workshop

EPSIG AGM and Webinar Lecture by Derek Tracy

EPSIG 5th International Symposium

Evolutionary Psychiatry (EP) Workshop

EPSIG 4th International Symposium

The Darwinian Roots of Attachment Theory – Half day webinar

• Annie Swanepoel – Understanding child development form an evolutionary perspective
• Martin Brune – Adult attachment and life history patterns in people with borderline personality disorder
• Jeremy Holmes – Bowlby, Darwin and group selection: a free energy neuroscience perspective
  

Presentations from EPSIG AGM and Evolutionary Perspectives on Suicide Workshop, London

• Mohammed Abbas – An Introduction to Suicide : Facts, Challenges and a Model
• C A Soper – Adaptation to the Suicide Niche

Presentations from the Third EPSIG Symposium (PDF), London

• Dr Gerhard Medicus – Human ethology and the understanding of personality disorder
• Dr Haley Peckham – Surviving at the cost of suffering: The mixed blessings of our evolved neuroplastic brains
• Bernadette Wren – Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity: A view from the clinic
• Professor Markus Rantala – An evolutionary model of depression
• Professor Daniel Nettle – Depression: What (if anything) is it, and what are its evolutionary origins
• Professor Marco Del Giudice – Form follows function: An evolutionary model of the structure of psychopathology

Presentations from the 2nd EPSIG Symposium

• Welcome Address from the EPSIG Chair
• How evolutionary thinking can help us to understand ADHD
• An Evolutionary Account of Brain Laterality
• Life History Theory: A Framework for the Understanding of Personality Disorder
• From caring to compassion: an evolutionary journey and social implication exploration
• Evolutionary Models of Mental Disorders (II) Eating Disorders
• What clinicians can learn from evolutionary psychiatry

Presentations from the 2nd EPSIG Half-day Scientific Meeting

• Evolutionary aspects of ageing and Alzheimer’s – Paul St John-Smith
• Mental illness in hunter-gatherers: Child care and mismatch – Nikhil Chaudhary.

Presentations from the EPSIG Half-day Scientific Meeting

• Depression and Inflammation: A Life-Saving Response to Stress Gone Awry – presented by Professor Carmine Pariante
• Meeting Agenda

Presentations from EPSIG AGM

• Darwinian Theory and Psychiatry: a Historical Perspective – presented by Hannah Sheftel

Presentations from the first EPSIG Symposium

• The First Symposium on Evolutionary Psychiatry flyer
• 7 videos from the first EPSIG Symposium
• Why should Psychiatry now consider Evolution – presented by Dr Paul St John Smith
• The Evolution of the Social Mind – presented by Dr Robin Dunbar
• The Outgroup Intolerance Hypothesis for Schizophrenia – presented by Dr Riadh Abed
• Why We Get Sad: How Evolution Makes Sense of Emotional Disorders – presented by Dr Randolph Nesse
• Autism: An evolutionary perspective – presented by Dr Simon Baron-Cohen
• The case for including evolutionary theory into the MRCPsych Curriculum – presented by Dr Agnes Ayton