DGPPN Congress Opens in Berlin

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Dr Med. Iris Haurg, President of DGPPH/Photo: DGPPN
Dr Med. Iris Hauth, President of DGPPH/Photo: DGPPN
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The Congress of the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN) kicks off today at the prestigious CityCube Congress centre in the German Capital, Berlin.

Under the theme: Mind – Person – Society, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Germany: Research, Care, Inclusion, the congress will debate pressing topics relevant to the field of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic.

The President of the DGPPN, Dr. med. Iris Hauth, in her message observed that Psychiatry and psychotherapy was in a constant state of change, stressing that it “has to react to societal, social and political developments like no other medical discipline. The changing circumstances not only create new risk factors and affect the course of mental illnesses.”

Dr Hauth said that they also have a direct influence on the perception and acceptance of mentally ill people by the general population. At the same time, advances in biological basic research are establishing new preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the treatment of various disorders.

This year’s DGPPN Congress will address these complex interactions and initiate a comprehensive stocktaking with its theme “Mind – Person – Society”. Where is psychiatry and psychotherapy today? What is expected of it? What can it achieve? What not? And what impulses can be expected from medical research? National and international experts from the sciences, politics and society will look closely at these complex topics and examine them from different perspectives.

One focus expected to feature prominently, will be the current state of care. The strong regional differences in coverage give rise to urgent questions about the fair distribution of resources in the healthcare sector. This is particularly relevant for the long-term care of people with chronic mental illness and the endeavours to give them equal participation in all areas of life.

Discussions about suitable psychiatric-psychotherapeutic treatment offerings is also highly topical in view of the growing number of refugees and asylum seekers in Germany.

According to Dr Hauth, these topics give cause for interdisciplinary discussions about innovative care models, stressing that a further focus of the discussions will be the conditions in which online treatments could play a role.

The DGPPN Congress 2016 will look for answers to these multifaceted questions. You can look forward to renowned keynote speakers, interdisciplinary symposia, interactive discussion forums and an exciting supporting programme.

CM/IK