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Getting to the bottom of things: The value of evolutionary approaches in discerning the origin of psychopathology
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Borsboom and colleagues provide an informative account of the challenges inherent in the widespread adoption of traditional biology-oriented explanations of mental conditions. Nonetheless, while the network approach may offer a more integrative depiction of psychopathology, we contend that it is, in part, similarly based on an impoverished view of the term “biological,” as is generally the case in the fields of medicine and psychology (Brüne 2016). Specifically, the prevailing undertaking of biological interpretations of mental conditions has largely focused on so-called proximate descriptions (e.g., biological mechanisms), while disregarding their “ultimate” or evolutionary dimensions (i.e., their phylogeny and adaptive value; Nesse 2013). When viewed through the lens of Tinbergen's framework encompassing both the proximate and the ultimate levels of explanations of specific design features or traits, a couple of key issues arise that render the network approach no more useful than the standard biological model in medicine and psychology (Brüne 2014; Nesse 2013). The first claim is that the network approach offers a unique way of looking at psychopathology, whereby the synergism involving associated symptoms in a system of connections is purported to be key in the development of such conditions. Although it does make sense that symptoms of many psychological conditions are likely to affect one another in a progressive and reciprocal manner, the network approach fails to clarify as to why this is the case. Is it because some symptoms are naturally influential on others? If so, why is this the case? Borsboom et al. contend that the logical interpretation of intentional narratives behind certain symptoms could explain why. However, it begs the question as to why such relationships are rational or comprehensible. The second claim is that, in the context of a network approach, psychopathological features are believed to be engendered either as a result of individual developmental trajectories...