Asian Journal of Psychiatry 5 (2012) 112
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Asian Journal of Psychiatry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ajp
Conference proceedings – ANCIPS 2012 Dr Rishikesh V Behere Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal - 576104, India
The annual national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) was held at Kochi from 19th to 22nd January 2012. The conference was jointly organized by the IPS Kerala state branch and Cochin local branch. This annual conference is a forum for meeting of mental health professionals and discusses issues pertaining to mental health in the Indian subcontinent. The conference saw participation from delegates not only from India but also SAARC countries Srilanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh; members of Indian American Psychiatric Association and British Indian Psychiatric Association. The inaugural plenary sessions covered a wide range of topics. The first lecture on ‘‘Psychiatric practice in this decade: Legal and ethical dilemmas’’ the Immediate Past President of IPS discussed issues related to legal and ethical dilemmas in psychiatric practice in this decade. The session on ‘‘Schizophrenia: One hundred years of bad treatment?’’ emphasized that despite recent advances in our understanding of schizophrenia the psychosocial outcomes are still unsatisfactory and hence there is a need to translate research findings to develop treatment options that can enhance subjective well-being and quality of life in persons with schizophrenia. The session on ‘‘Mapping the landscape of psychotherapy in India: Perspectives through the looking glass’’ traced the evolution of psychotherapeutic practice in India. Concerns were raised on the declining interest in psychotherapy in psychiatric training and clinical practice and how this has led to non-professionals filling the gap to meet the felt needs of patients. The session on ‘‘Borderline personality disorder: New findings and current controversies’’ reviewed the new findings and current controversies on Borderline Personality Disorder. The theme for the conference this year was ‘‘Psychiatry. . . mysteries to molecules.’’ The opening lecture of the theme session addressed the mysteries surrounding the intriguing interface between mind and brain. Psychological problems have always been shrouded in mystery and a wide range of explanatory frameworks have been proposed over the years to understand this phenomenon. The session emphasized the need to have a focused and directed approach to understanding newer biological theories. The second session on ‘‘Molecular Revolution’’ in Psychiatry traced the evolution of our understanding on role of molecules in
1876-2018/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2012.02.022
pathogenesis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. The session discussed the important advances in molecular theories which hold promise for the future with a caveat that these theories alone may not answer all questions on the etiology of psychiatric disorders. In an invited lecture Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, President ElectWorld Psychiatric Association discussed various factors such as intuition, experience, evidence based practice, cognitive reasoning and multi-disciplinary team influences that affect clinical decision making by psychiatrists. Dr. Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, President, Indian Psychiatric Society in his presidential address spoke on the important issue of training in psychiatry for undergraduate medical students. He highlighted the need for introducing psychiatry as a separate subject with examination in the undergraduate medical curriculum and the initiative taken by the Indian Psychiatric Society in discussing this issue with the Medical Council of India for early implementation. The conference also saw a large number of concurrent symposium sessions comprehensively covering important contemporary issues ranging from Ethics in psychiatry, Preventive psychiatry, The National Mental Health Program, Improving treatment outcomes in substance use disorders, Clinical approach to psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and Cognitive symptom dimensions in schizophrenia; to name a few. The SAARC symposium discussed ‘‘Ethical issues in South Asia: In clinical research and practice’’. The Indian American Psychiatric Association symposium discussed Co-morbidity of medical disorders with psychiatric disorders. The British Indian Psychiatric Association conducted a symposium on ‘‘Forensic psychiatry in the UK – Relevance to India’’. In addition a large number of free oral papers and posters were enthusiastically presented by the delegates. The conference also saw a novel initiative of offering CME credits recognized by the Medical Council of India to delegates participating in CME sessions. The Indian Psychiatric Society could consider introducing awards for best oral paper and poster presentations in future conferences. This could provide a boost to promoting original research in psychiatry in India. Overall ANCIPS 2012 set a bench mark in terms of organization, academic discussions and delegate participation.
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Asian Journal of Psychiatry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ajp
Conference proceedings – ANCIPS 2012 Dr Rishikesh V Behere Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal - 576104, India
The annual national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) was held at Kochi from 19th to 22nd January 2012. The conference was jointly organized by the IPS Kerala state branch and Cochin local branch. This annual conference is a forum for meeting of mental health professionals and discusses issues pertaining to mental health in the Indian subcontinent. The conference saw participation from delegates not only from India but also SAARC countries Srilanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh; members of Indian American Psychiatric Association and British Indian Psychiatric Association. The inaugural plenary sessions covered a wide range of topics. The first lecture on ‘‘Psychiatric practice in this decade: Legal and ethical dilemmas’’ the Immediate Past President of IPS discussed issues related to legal and ethical dilemmas in psychiatric practice in this decade. The session on ‘‘Schizophrenia: One hundred years of bad treatment?’’ emphasized that despite recent advances in our understanding of schizophrenia the psychosocial outcomes are still unsatisfactory and hence there is a need to translate research findings to develop treatment options that can enhance subjective well-being and quality of life in persons with schizophrenia. The session on ‘‘Mapping the landscape of psychotherapy in India: Perspectives through the looking glass’’ traced the evolution of psychotherapeutic practice in India. Concerns were raised on the declining interest in psychotherapy in psychiatric training and clinical practice and how this has led to non-professionals filling the gap to meet the felt needs of patients. The session on ‘‘Borderline personality disorder: New findings and current controversies’’ reviewed the new findings and current controversies on Borderline Personality Disorder. The theme for the conference this year was ‘‘Psychiatry. . . mysteries to molecules.’’ The opening lecture of the theme session addressed the mysteries surrounding the intriguing interface between mind and brain. Psychological problems have always been shrouded in mystery and a wide range of explanatory frameworks have been proposed over the years to understand this phenomenon. The session emphasized the need to have a focused and directed approach to understanding newer biological theories. The second session on ‘‘Molecular Revolution’’ in Psychiatry traced the evolution of our understanding on role of molecules in
1876-2018/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2012.02.022
pathogenesis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. The session discussed the important advances in molecular theories which hold promise for the future with a caveat that these theories alone may not answer all questions on the etiology of psychiatric disorders. In an invited lecture Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, President ElectWorld Psychiatric Association discussed various factors such as intuition, experience, evidence based practice, cognitive reasoning and multi-disciplinary team influences that affect clinical decision making by psychiatrists. Dr. Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, President, Indian Psychiatric Society in his presidential address spoke on the important issue of training in psychiatry for undergraduate medical students. He highlighted the need for introducing psychiatry as a separate subject with examination in the undergraduate medical curriculum and the initiative taken by the Indian Psychiatric Society in discussing this issue with the Medical Council of India for early implementation. The conference also saw a large number of concurrent symposium sessions comprehensively covering important contemporary issues ranging from Ethics in psychiatry, Preventive psychiatry, The National Mental Health Program, Improving treatment outcomes in substance use disorders, Clinical approach to psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and Cognitive symptom dimensions in schizophrenia; to name a few. The SAARC symposium discussed ‘‘Ethical issues in South Asia: In clinical research and practice’’. The Indian American Psychiatric Association symposium discussed Co-morbidity of medical disorders with psychiatric disorders. The British Indian Psychiatric Association conducted a symposium on ‘‘Forensic psychiatry in the UK – Relevance to India’’. In addition a large number of free oral papers and posters were enthusiastically presented by the delegates. The conference also saw a novel initiative of offering CME credits recognized by the Medical Council of India to delegates participating in CME sessions. The Indian Psychiatric Society could consider introducing awards for best oral paper and poster presentations in future conferences. This could provide a boost to promoting original research in psychiatry in India. Overall ANCIPS 2012 set a bench mark in terms of organization, academic discussions and delegate participation.
