The Evolutionary Mechanism of Human Dysfunctional Behavior: Relaxation of Natural Selection Pressures throughout Human Evolution, Excessive ... and Their Relevance to Mental Disorders - Hardcover

Fuchs, Ivan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 163576601X ISBN 13: 9781635766011

Publisher: Radius Book Group, 2019

Synopsis

Why is humanity by far the most successful animal in the animal kingdom, but when it comes to survival of the fittest, we pull against the impulse toward natural selection? Unique among vertebrates, humans develop and practice varied forms of dysfunctional or maladaptive behavior, the graver of which are categorized as mental disorders, which doesn’t sustain our species. Fuchs explains why this is the case, setting his discussion within the fields of psychiatry, evolutionary biology, and genetics, marshalling a wide-range research to make a compelling case.

About this title

About the Author

Ivan Fuchs is a clinical psychiatrist. He immigrated to Israel at the age of 25 from a Hungarian ethnic region in Romania, learning Hebrew and English at a relatively advanced age. After his residency in psychiatry, he served for 30 years as head of chronic psychiatric wards at the Jerusalem Mental Health Center, affiliated with The Hebrew University―Hadassah School of Medicine, Jerusalem. This job allowed him to develop close and longstanding acquaintance with mental patients, which led to continuous contemplation and research on the nature and evolutionary origins of mental disorders. This intellectual journey gave birth to the present book during the first 5 years after his retirement. Dr. Fuchs lives in Jerusalem with his wife and has three children.

Edition details

• Publisher: Radius Book Group
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 163576601X
• ISBN 13: 9781635766011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 604