Events
- 17 January 2023 Executive Committee meeting minutes
- 20 September 2022 Executive Committee meeting: agenda, minutes
- 11 January 2022 Executive Committee meeting minutes
- 7 September 2021 Executive Committee meeting minutes
- 11 June 2021 AGM minutes
- 12 January 2021 Executive Committee meeting minutes
- 11 January 2021 Executive Committee meeting minutes
- 31 May 2019 AGM minutes
- 18 May 2018 AGM minutes
- 13 January 2017 AGM: agenda, minutes
- 18 May 2016 Executive Committee meeting: agenda, minutes
- 12 January 2016 Executive Committee inaugural meeting minutes
Future events
EPSIG International Symposium - 10 March 2023
The Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group 5th International Symposium is being held at Prescot Street on Friday 10 March 2023.
For further details and to book, please visit our Evolutionary Psychiatry SIG Meeting 2023 event page.
Evolutionary Psychiatry (EP) Workshop
27 February 2023, 10am - 5pm
RCPsych, 21 Prescot Street, London
We held a 1-day face-to-face workshop on Evolutionary Psychiatry (EP) at the College in London on 27 January 2023 aimed at interested trainees within the UK as part of the EPSIG trainee engagement programme.
Evolutionary Psychiatry SIG Annual Conference
29 October 2021 - 9am - 5pm
Online via Zoom
The Executive Committee of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group are delighted to announce that the 4th International Evolutionary Psychiatry Symposium due to take place on 29 October 2021 via Zoom is now open for registration. The symposium features a line-up 6 keynote speakers who are leading evolutionary thinkers and authors representing a wide diversity of disciplines and backgrounds. We hope that you will join us for this landmark evolutionary psychiatry event.
The Darwinian Roots of Attachment Theory - Half day webinar
Please see programme (PDF) from the day and you can view a recording of the event in your own time. Presentations are below:
- 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, 31 May 2019, London
Please see the programme (PDF) for the day.
- Mohammed Abbas - An Introduction to Suicide : Facts, Challenges and a Model (PPT)
- C.A. Soper- Adaptation to the Suicide Niche (PDF)
Presentations from the Third EPSIG Symposium (PDF), 22 March 2019, London
- Dr Gerhard Medicus - Human ethology and the understanding of personality disorder (PDF)
- Dr Haley Peckham - Surviving at the cost of suffering: The mixed blessings of our evolved neuroplastic brains (PDF)
- Bernadette Wren - Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity: A view from the clinic (PDF)
- Professor Markus Rantala - An evolutionary model of depression (PDF)
- Professor Daniel Nettle- Depression: What (if anything) is it, and what are its evolutionary origins (PDF)
- Professor Marco Del Giudice - Form follows function: An evolutionary model of the structure of psychopathology (PDF)
Recordings of these lectures can be viewed on our YouTube channel
Presentations from the 2nd EPSIG Symposium, 12 January 2018
Live recordings from the symposium are now available on our YouTube channel or through the links below.
- 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 18 May 2018
- Evolutionary aspects of ageing and Alzheimer’s (pdf) - Paul St John-Smith
- Mental illness in hunter-gatherers: Child care and mismatch (pdf) - Nikhil Chaudhary.
Download the full programme. (pdf)
Presentations from the EPSIG Half-day Scientific Meeting 19 May 2017
- Professor Carmine Pariante - Depression and Inflammation: A Life-Saving Response to Stress Gone Awry (pdf)
- Meeting Agenda 19th May. (pdf)
Presentations from EPSIG AGM January 2017
- Darwinian Theory and Psychiatry: a Historical Perspective (pdf) presented by Hannah Sheftel.
Presentations from the first EPSIG Symposium
- 7 videos from the first EPSIG Symposium
- Why should Psychiatry now consider Evolution (pdf)
- The Evolution of the Social Mind (pdf)
- The Outgroup Intolerance Hypothesis for Schizophrenia (pdf)
- Why We Get Sad: How Evolution Makes Sense of Emotional Disorders (pdf)
- Autism: An evolutionary perspective (pdf)
- The case for including evolutionary theory into the MRCPsych Curriculum. (pdf)
Charles Darwin RCPsych Evolutionary Psychiatry SIG prize
- Invitation to give a 10-min oral presentation at the EPSIG International conference held in-person on 10th March 2023 for the winners (and posters for highly commended other entrants)
- £250 pound prize money for each of the two categories
- Certificate
- Have your essay printed in the EPSIG Newsletter that is distributed to all EPSIG members (currently around 2,200 psychiatrists and other professionals worldwide)
Videos
Dr Derek Tracy and Dr Riadh Abed - Mental health from an evolutionary perspective – 21 May 2020
Dr Derek Tracy and Dr Riadh Abed hosted a special event for RCPsych staff on Thursday 21 May to mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2020.