Expanding Horizons in Psychiatry – Mind Body Symposium

Psych Scene Medical Symposium for Psychiatrists
on 16th November 2013 at The Langham Hotel, Melbourne

“The psychiatrist must be first and foremost and all the time a physician… In fact, psychiatry is neurology without physical signs, and calls for diagnostic virtuosity of the highest order… The psychiatrist should not only first be a physician but ideally a superlative physician.” (Neurologist Henry Miller, 1967)

Psychiatry is undergoing a transformational change. The Psych Scene Mind-Body Symposium aims to bring this transformational change to you by incorporating talks that expand our understanding of psychiatry. The aim is to broaden horizons in looking at psychiatry holistically. Last year’s event explored the interface between endocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology and cardiology, and was a success with a total of 60 consultant psychiatrists and GP’s attending.

In this year’s event the Psych Scene team have invited transformational clinical leaders challenging the way we think about psychiatric disorders. The talks will take us from physiology to aetiology; because the medical etilogies in psychiatric patients can be missed if not known or not actively asked for.

Three brilliant specialists; Prof Graham Hughes, A/Prof Felice Jacka and Prof Malcolm Hopwood, are lined up as this year’s Psych Scene Symposium speakers.

Professor Graham Hughes, head of the Lupus Clinic in the UK, discovered Hughes’ syndrome with his team in 1983. This condition is also called antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Research in APS has come a long way with the identification of a range of antibodies. Psychiatry has lagged behind in this respect, even though the cerebral arterial circulation is one of the most common areas of thrombosis.

Associate Professor Felice Jacka is a leader in the field of diet and mental health. The questions “Could diet make a difference to mental health at population level?” and “What interventions are required?” are matters that many have thought about for many decades.

Professor Malcolm Hopwood is a leading psychiatrist in Australia, and will be speaking about novel outcomes in depression.

I will be sharing aspects of neuroinflammation that psychiatrists need to know along with key clinical features that help detect autoimmunity, based on the article co-authored with my neuroimmunologist colleague Dr Suzanne Hodgkinson. The BBB is no longer impenetrable and mechanisms exist that result in passage of autoantibodies and inflammatory markers across the BBB. Moreover, stress and trauma also trigger off inflammation and autoimmunity in susceptible individuals, which will be explored in the talk.

Hopefully this taster has stimulated your intellectual curiosity… You won’t want to miss this year’s Psych Scene Symposium. The Psych Scene team look forward to seeing you at The Langham Hotel Melbourne.

View the Symposium programme and book your place in the event early on!

Regards,
Dr Sanil Rege

Reference
Koranyi, E. K., & Potoczny, W. M. (2010). Physical illnesses underlying psychiatric symptoms. Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 58(3-4), 155-160.