A singular approach to understanding mental disorders that is thoughtfully presented and offers new possibilities.
A psychiatrist finds an evolutionary explanation for common mental illnesses.
In this science book, Wylie draws on Darwinian evolutionary theory to present a new framework for understanding the origins of depression, bipolar disorder, and other such conditions. In a volume that combines both the work of biological theorists and his own clinical observations, the author argues for an interpretation in which mental illnesses are caused by the inability of humans’ “new” and “old” brains—the behaviors that developed as Homo sapiens became modern as opposed to the remnants of earlier stages of evolution—to work in concert. Wylie’s goal in developing his theory is twofold: Understanding the causes of mental illness makes it easier to treat, and this knowledge allows the general public to react with empathy instead of fear. The author’s empathy for his patients is evident throughout these pages, as he recounts cases in (anonymized) detail without delving into sensationalism or objectifying the people he has treated. Wylie’s interpretation of behavioral anomalies in the context of “a decisive shift in natural selection’s target from fitness of individuals to productivity of relationships among individuals in which the language of expressed emotions plays the central role” seems plausible, particularly as he cites evolutionary biologists, including E.O. Wilson and Richard Prum, in the development of his case. The book is well written, with frequently vibrant prose (“white-hot caldrons of emotion radiating inner fragments of the nature of our nature”), and it is fairly easy for nonscientist readers to follow. The work’s brevity is not a shortcoming, as Wylie makes a fully developed argument and presents evidence without becoming repetitive. The volume’s central thesis is outside the norms of current psychiatric teachings, but the author makes a solid case for why it is plausible and how it can change methods of treating and understanding metal illnesses, delivering a challenge to orthodoxy that is worth considering and exploring further.
A singular approach to understanding mental disorders that is thoughtfully presented and offers new possibilities.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-578-60167-0
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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