Abraham Leon Halpern, MD (1925-2013)
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2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from WASP President / Driss Moussaoui 3 Social Psychiatry - Past and Future / Thomas Craig 4 Letter from the Secretary General / Roy Abraham Kallivayalil 8 WASP Treasurer’s Letter / Michaela Amering 10 Message from the President, WPA / Pedro Ruiz 12 Message from the President- Elect, WPA / Dinesh Bhugra 13 Forthcoming WASP Co-sponsored Meetings 14 Message from the President, WAPR / Afzal Javed 15 News from AASP / Rama Rao Gogineni 17 Understanding the Relationship between Religiousness, Spirituality and Positive Psychology / Shridhar Sharma 23 Some Recent News in Social Psychiatry / Tsutomu Sakuta 38 Social Psychiatry in India / R. Srinivasa Murthy 41 The Future of Psychiatry / Mohan Isaac 45 India’s Contributions to Social Psychiatry / Rakesh K Chadda 53 XXII World Congress of WASP, New Delhi - 2016 59 Stills from WPA Bucharest Congress 61 WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | 3 he 21st World Congress of Social Psychiatry (WCSP) will take place in T Lisbon, Portugal from 29 June to 3 July 2013. The theme of this WCSP is “The Bio-psycho-social Model: The Future of Psychiatry”. More than 1,200 participants will attend from 80 different countries, exchanging around an excellent program set up by Thomas Craig and Norman Sartorius. The city of Lisbon is a pleasant one with plenty of historical sites to visit. Professor Driss This congress will definitely be a success, Moussaoui as it was the case in Marrakech in 2010, President, World and as it will be in 2016 in New Delhi, the Association for Social next site of the 22nd WCSP. Psychiatry This says a lot about the steady growth of the World Association for Social Psychiatry (WASP) from every single viewpoint: number of meetings (at least once a year plus the WASP co-sponsored meetings), number of member societies, active scientific sections and task forces, FAST program for access to mental health care in low and middle income countries (Mauritania, Morocco, Guatemala, Armenia, Sudan), financial situation better than ever before… We all look forward to the next triennium with a new Executive Committee, new set of activities and programs in order to promote Social Psychiatry worldwide. The WASP will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year in the UK. The progress made in the few last years is a good predictor of the achievements expected in the years to come. WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | 4 warm welcome to all at the 21st World Congress of the WASP. A The title of the Congress ‘The bio-psycho-social model: the future of psychiatry’ is witness to a cherished belief that we will one day be able to deliver a science of psychiatry that is capable of integrating these three explanations of the etiology of mental Prof Tom K J Craig, illness. The reality of course, is that we are Professor Social still a good way off achieving this ambition Psychiatry, and at times it has seemed that the social Box 33 HSPRD, has slipped from view in the excitement of Institute of new discoveries of the inner workings of Psychiatry, the brain and of psychological processes at De Crespigny Park, the individual level. But this is undeserved London SE5 8A, pessimism. Studies of the importance of England. the social environment continue apace Tel: +44 (0) 207 848 with the increased understanding of the 0738 relevance and impact of the social Fax: + 44 (0) 207 848 environment including early childhood 5056 maltreatment and of stressors later in life President-Elect, including the wider scale impact of World Association for globalization, mass migration and ‘always Social Psychiatry on’ nature of modern electronic communications. In some respects, the WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | apparent lapse of social At its heart, social psychiatry is 5 psychiatry arises because we really about human relationships, have been waiting for biological concerned with issues of stigma, explanations of individual discrimination and how society response to adversity to catch organizes and delivers care to up. We know, for example, a those in need. In the lifetime of great deal about the nature of the WASP, perhaps the greatest social circumstances that example of this has been the precipitate and perpetuate closure of the old hospital asylums. This was in part a ●●● response to studies showing the At its heart, social damaging influence of psychiatry is really institutional care but also about human because of the success of a small relationships, number of psychiatrists leading concerned with issues ‘experimental’ service models in of stigma, which coercion was minimized or discrimination and how in which staff and patients society organizes and worked together with a blurring delivers care to those in of institutional authority. The need. social reform of these institutions was associated with ●●● improvements in behavior and function that allowed many clinical depression yet are only patients to leave the asylums well just beginning to integrate this before the arrival of understanding with specific antipsychotics. The subsequent genetic risk and to take into evolution of community care has account the added complication relied heavily on the willingness that a genetic vulnerability may of the socially informed be activated or even modified by psychiatrist to get involved in the the social environment. development and evaluation of many aspects of social care WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | including the provision of Mutidimensional treatment supported education, foster care program in the US 6 employment and housing for have proven very effective for patients. There are opportunities children with persistent conduct for further leadership, not least in disorder, and parenting skills the development of socially programs co-developed and informed preventive programs evaluated by child psychiatrists in for mental health. For example, Britain have been fairly widely in England, at any one time there disseminated. But there is much is something in the order of more that could be done. Studies 45,000 young children who are of these vulnerable groups under the care of the authorities because of serious neglect or ●●● maltreatment. These children The development of have a 5-fold increase of mental socially informed disorder in adulthood, and a 4 therapies and fold increase in the risk of suicide preventive attempts. They reach these adult interventions might outcomes through a chain of even evolve first in unhappy social circumstances – countries where the early pregnancy, single psychiatric parenthood and the absence of professional is a confiding relationships to name scarce resource. just a few. The costs to society ●●● over their lifetime are truly staggering. Yet there is relatively little done by way of preventive repeatedly show that ‘chance’ interventions, partly because of a encounter with someone who lack of interest from psychiatrists can offer good quality social who see tackling these social support can help many of these difficulties as the responsibility of young people escape the so social workers rather than of called conveyor belt of adversity, medical doctors. Fortunately not thus raising the question of why all have such a rigid framework. we are not more actively Some interventions, including the developing and evaluating social WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | interventions such as volunteer pharmacological therapy befriending schemes targeted at delivered in their institution. In 7 high risk groups. fact, the prevalence of mental disorder being what it is, no The development of socially country can afford not to explore informed therapies and multidisciplinary delivery for preventive interventions might prevention and treatment. even evolve first in countries where the psychiatric I have no doubt that there is a professional is a scarce resource. lively and exciting future for our Several initiatives tacking specialty. We are beginning to common mental disorders such see the first fruits of research to as depression and anxiety have integrate social with been developed in India, Africa psychological and biological and countries of South America etiologies, new socially using combinations of lay health orientated therapies are workers and general medical emerging and it is possible to services. It sometimes seems that have some guarded optimism these creative solutions are that some headway is being disregarded by psychiatrists in made to tackle prejudice and more affluent countries on the discrimination. There is much to misguided belief that these are do and not least is the necessity ‘second-best’ alternatives to the to keep a vigorous scientific gold standard psychological and underpinning of the work we do. WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | 8 he World Association for Social Psychiatry (WASP) was founded in 1964 T and is one of the most influential Psychiatric Associations in the world. WASP is now nearing its Golden Jubilee (50 years) and has spread far and wide and in many countries of the world. We are planning a grand celebration by organizing a Golden Jubilee Conference in London in 2014. The last World Congress at Marrakech under the present President Prof Driss Moussaoui Prof Roy Abraham was a grand success. We hope to excel even Kallivayalil this benchmark in the 2013 World Congress at Secretary General, Lisbon June 28- July 3, 2013. An outstanding World Association for scientific program has been planned under the Social Psychiatry guidance of President-elect Prof Thomas Craig Vice- Principal, and Advisor Prof Norman Sartorious. We have Professor & Head, no doubt, Lisbon Congress will provide not Dept of Psychiatry, only a rich scientific feast but also a new Pushpagiri Institute impetus to Social Psychiatry in the world. Our of Medical hearty welcome! Sciences,Tiruvalla, We had a great three year tenure (2010-13) Kerala- 689 101, India under the leadership of President Driss [email protected] Moussaoui. President-elect Thomas Craig and Treasurer Prof Michaela Amering had given me wonderful support during this term. The EC functioned as one man, and met several WASP Newsletter June – July 2013 | times in person and several more the new Statutes at the 2013 times over Skype meetings.