Good reasons for bad feelings : insights from the frontier of evolutionary psychiatry / Randolph M. Nesse, MD.

9781101985663 (hardcover)

New York, New York : Dutton, [2019]

English

xv, 365 pages ; 24 cm

RC454.4 .N47 2019

616.89

Instead of asking why certain people suffer from mental illness, Nesse asks why natural selection has left us all with fragile minds. Drawing on revealing stories from his own clinical practice and insights from evolutionary biology, Nesse shows how negative emotions are useful in certain situations, yet can become overwhelming. Anxiety protects us from harm in the face of danger, but false alarms are inevitable. Low moods prevent us from wasting effort in pursuit of unreachable goals, but they often escalate into pathological depression. Other mental disorders, such as addiction and anorexia, result from the mismatch between modern environment and our ancient human past. And there are good evolutionary reasons for sexual disorders and for why genes for schizophrenia persist. Taken together, these and many more insights help to explain the pervasiveness of human suffering, and show us new paths for relieving it by understanding individuals as individuals.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

On-Campus Resources > Books
All Resources