Why do humans heal one another? Evolutionary psychology has advanced our understanding of why humans suffer psychological distress and mental illness. However, to date, the evolutionary origins of what drives humans to alleviate the suffering of others has received limited attention. Therefore, we draw upon evolutionary theory to assess why humans psychologically support one another, focusing on the interpersonal regulation of emotions that shapes how humans heal and console one another when in psychosocial distress. To understand why we engage in psychological healing, we review the evolution of cooperation among social species and the roles of emotional contagion, empathy, and self-regulation. We discuss key aspects of human biocultural evolution that have contributed to healing behaviors: symbolic logic including language, complex social networks, and the long period of childhood that necessitates identifying and responding to others in distress. However, both biological and cultural evolution also have led to social context when empathy and consoling are impeded. Ultimately, by understanding the evolutionary processes shaping why humans psychologically do or do not heal one another, we can improve our current approaches in global mental health and uncover new opportunities to improve the treatment of mental illness across cultures and context around the world.

人类为什么要互相治愈？进化心理学加深了我们对人类为何遭受心理困扰和精神疾病的理解。然而，迄今为止，驱动人类减轻他人痛苦的进化起源受到的关注有限。因此，我们利用进化理论来评估为什么人类在心理上相互支持，重点关注情绪的人际调节，这种调节塑造了人类在社会心理困扰时如何治愈和安慰彼此。为了理解我们为什么要进行心理治疗，我们回顾了社会物种之间合作的演变以及情绪传染、同理心和自我调节的作用。我们讨论了有助于治愈行为的人类生物文化进化的关键方面：符号逻辑，包括语言，复杂的社交网络，以及需要识别和回应处于困境中的他人的漫长童年时期。然而，当同情和安慰受到阻碍时，生物和文化进化也导致了社会背景。最终，通过了解塑造人类在心理上相互治愈或不相互治愈的进化过程，我们可以改进我们目前在全球心理健康方面的方法，并发现新的机会来改善世界各地不同文化和背景的精神疾病治疗。