While analyzing the DSM-IV over the holidays last year in search of citations for the existence of group social interactions that affect individual behavior from an evolutionary perspective, I made an observation unrelated to that detailed search which, to me, seemed quite obvious. I wanted to share this observation with others in the hope that it may create more detailed studies from an evolutionary perspective. I want to warn those reading these conclusions that they are somewhat vague and are intended as speculative observation and not a detailed study. Think of it as a spy's eye view of the planet as a whole, occasionally opposed by a focus on individuals, because such a detailed perspective has the power to change that planetary overview.
The first assumption that one must draw from the DSM-IV is that the mental disorders listed are just that. They represent behaviors of individuals that are having significant distress in social, academic, or occupational areas of social function, but only reflect a small percentage of the population. If we assume that mentally healthy people and mentally unhealthy people are using the same modular computational mind structure to solve problems, survey and analyze local conditions, and then act outwardly toward those problems, as we in evolutionary psychology suspect, then one can make the next assumption: That the majority of the populace is adapting nicely to their local environments without significant distress; barring of course any birth defects, brain damage, or ingestion of harmful chemicals, be they social or industrial. Then the final assumption: Gender differences in the DSM=IV could represent deep, innate behaviors on a universal planetary scale.
In the chart below I have placed the female disorders to the right and the male disorders on the left. (The original chart was done in 1998 this way, but in 2008, I switched the right and left gender roles to conform to the Detailed work that I did with the Helen Fisher book, First Sex) I have created two large descriptive headings over the female columns and the male columns. Over the two female columns you see the words LESS MOVEMENT, and over the two male columns you see the words MORE MOVEMENT. In street evolutionary vernacular, the female mostly stays at HOME, and the male usually is the one who ROAMS. (Yeah, I know it's goofy, but my objective at Evolution's Voyage is to teach the common person). In the middle you will find listed the disorders that are shared by both genders. Above the five columns of the listed disorders, you will see their description of the disorders in the order of their incidence between the genders as described the DSM-IV. For example, F1 stands for a mental disorder afflicts the females in heavier ratios than females in F2, such as 3:1 or five times as likely, etc. F2 represents the mental disorder afflicting the female gender with the descriptive words, Much more or More common. The same descriptive words are attached to the male gender's two columns, only the subheadings are listed as M1 or M2 and run from right to left. As one reads down the F1 column one begins to see a rough pattern emerging that the female's disorders are more self-centered and evolve less outward movement than the male's. Is it possible that Seasonal Pattern Specifier Disorder could be the result of generation upon generation of females being herded into caves and being held in close quarters, kept as cattle until the spring weather approached? Such disorders as Major Depressive Disorder, Seasonal Pattern Specifier, and Nightmare Disorder do not involve wide ranging movement and appear to be inward-directed thoughts.
Does the herding of woman as cattle and treated as property seem far fetched? Consider this: The Associated Press on March 1, 98 carried a story of the Taliban religious army in Kabul, Afghanistan administering 100 lashes to a teenage girl for walking with a man who was not her relative. The news report also reported that the punishment was witnessed by a crowd numbered in the thousands. The Taliban religious army which imposes a strict version of Islamic law is composed entirely of males. Listen people -- this event occurred in 1998 -- last year -- not 30,000 years before present when our ancestors dwelled in caves. The act of lashing the young women was the enforcement of religious beliefs by the Taliban religious army and I will not make a moral judgments based on their rights, but I have reported the incident because it gives strong support to my arguments of the possible treatment of women by our male ancestors of long ago.
In observing the male's mental disorders, one sees movement galore: Exhibitionism, Fetishism, Fetishism, Frotteurism, Pedophillia, Sexual Sadim, Transvestic Fetishim, Voyeurim, Pryromania, and Conduct Disorder. Do the innate behavior motor movements of the male also bleed over into language dysfunctions that studies have found to be more prevalent in males and less in females? Does the female exhibit more internal thought like POWs in prison camps that use their minds more actively to keep from going crazy?
In conclusion, I want to emphasis again that this is merely my own personal casual observation from an evolutionary perspective. I have invited members of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, and the International Paleopsychology Society to review the work and give their comments. This work is free to anyone wishing to download, and permission is given to freely distribute the work. I do not feel that any copyrights of the American Psychiatric Association have been violated, but I will mail them a copy of the work for their information.
CAUTION: I feel that this observation is important because it gives strength to the evolutionary theories behind human behavior. However, it should be stressed that it reflects what has evolved, and may represent somewhat how both genders behaviors today, but it is not a message cut in stone. It does not mean that is how we will behave in the future. In fact, I predict that once the gender differences are known completely -- physically, mentally, and emotionally -- we will find a better way then what has evolved. We are in the Dark Ages, and we all blind.
February 10, 1998
Updated July, 1999
FEMALE |
BOTH |
MALE |
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F1) Heavy ratios towards this gender |
F2) Much more; More common |
3) Mixed, both equal |
M2) Much more; More common |
M1) Heavy ratios towards this gender |
Rett's Disorder P. 71 |
Selective Mutism P. 114 |
Feeding Disorder of Infancy of Early Childhood P. 98 |
Expressive Language Disorder P. 55 |
Reading Disorder P. 49 |
Major Depressive Disorder P. 320 |
Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type P. 139 |
Separation Anxiety Disorder P. 110 |
Mixed Receptive Expressive Language Disorder P. 58 |
Stuttering P. 63 |
Dysthymic Disorder P. 345 |
Sedative - Hypnotic Anxiolytic Induced Disorders P. 261 |
Cocaine - Related Disorders P. 228 |
Phonological Disorder P. 61 |
Autistic Disorder P. 66 |
Atypical Feature Specifier P. 384 |
Bipolar II Disorder P. 359 |
Bipolar I Disorder P. 350 |
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder P. 73 |
Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder P. 78 |
Seasonal Pattern Specifier P. 389 |
Undiffentiated Somatoform Disorder P. 451 |
Cyclothymic Disorder P. 363 |
Asperger's Disorder P. 75 |
Tourette's Disorder P. 101 |
Rapid Cycling Specifier P. 390 |
Pain Disorder P. 458 |
Social Phobia P. 411 |
Conduct Disorder P. 85 |
Sterotypic Movement Disorder P. 118 |
Panic Disorder w/o Agoraphobia P. 399 |
Primary Insomnia P. 553 |
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder P. 417 |
Encopresis P. 106 |
Nicotine- Related Disorders P. 245 (foreign / Asian countries) |
Substance Related Disorder P. 188 |
Alcohol Abuse & Dependence P. 202 |
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Panic Disorder w Agoraphobia P. 399 |
Insomnia Related to Another Mental Disorder P. 592 |
Hypochondriasis P. 462 |
Enuresis P. 108 |
Amphetamine Dependence and Abuse P. 209 |
Animal & Natural Phobia P. 405 |
Kleptomania P. 612 |
Body Dysmorphic Disorder P. 466 |
Vascular Dementia P. 143 |
Hallucinogen Use & Intoxication P. 234 |
Situational Type Disorder P. 405 |
Trichotillomania P. 618 |
Sleep Terror Disorder P. 583 |
Caffeine Related Disorders P. 219 |
Inhalant - Related Disorders P. 240 |
Blood - Injection Injury Phobia P. 405 |
Agoraphobia w/o history of Panic Disorder P. 403 |
Sleepwalking Disorder P. 587 |
Cannabis Use Disorders P. 218 |
Opioid Dependence P. 252 |
Generalized Anxiety Disorder P. 432 |
Pathological Gambling P. 615 |
Schizophrenia P. 282 |
Phencyclidine Related Disorders P. 261 |
|
Conversion Disorder P. 452 |
Adjustment Disorder P. 623 |
Pyromania P. 614 |
Exhibitionism P. 525 |
|
Dissociative Identity Disorder P. 484 |
Histronic Personal Disorder P. 655 |
Paranoid Personality Disorder P. 634 |
Fetishism P. 526 |
|
Anorexia Nervosa P. 539 |
Avoidandt Personality Disorder P. 662 |
Schizoid Personality Disorder P. 638 |
Frotteurism P. 527 |
|
Bulimia Nervosa P. 545 |
Dependent Personality Disorder P. 665 |
Passive - Aggressive Personality Disorder P. 733 |
Pedophilia P. 527 |
|
Nightmare Disorder P. 580 |
Sexual Masochism P. 529 |
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Boderline Personality Disorder P. 650 |
Sexual Sadism P. 530 |
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Transvestic Fetishism P. 530 |
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Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder P. 715 |
Voyeurism P. 532 |
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Factitious Disorder by Proxy P. 725 |
Gender Identity Disorder P. 532 |
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Binge - Eating Disorder P. 729 |
Primary Hypersomnia P. 557 |
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Breathing - Related Sleep Disorder P. 571 |
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Breathing - Related Sleep Disorder P. 567 |
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Intermittent Explosive Disorder P. 609 |
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Antisocial Personality Disorder P. 645 |
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder P. 658 |
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Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder P. 669 |
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