Abstract. Some of the main aspects of evolutionary psychiatry (the evolutionary approach in psychiatry – the evolutionary paradigm, i.e. evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology, as applied to psychiatry) are presented: evolutionary explanatory framework for the origins of psychiatric conditions and disorders. We start with a short introduction to the evolutionary approach to psychiatry in the context of the biomedical model and its deficiencies when applied to psychiatry. The evolutionary approach to psychiatry is a comparatively new, but still rooted in the collective historical biological past of the human species view on the origins of psychopathology. The most important evolutionary explanations for the origin of the psychiatric disorders are presented – the principles of psychopathology. The significance and influence of the contemporary environment on psychopathology is clarified. We conclude with the main theories on the ethiopathogenesis of psychiatric disorders from an evolutionary perspective.

Key words: biomedical model, evolutionary model, evolutionary psychiatry, human nature, archetypal needs, origins of psychiatric disorders, principles of psychopathology, laws of psychodynamics, ethiological theories on the psychiatric disorders

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