Free psychiatry conference in Philadelphia May 5-6, 2012

[Altostrata]

Association for the Advancement of Philosophy & Psychiatry (AAPP) http://www3.utsouthwestern.edu/aapp/ will discuss "The Biopsychosocial and Other Models for Psychiatry" at its annual meeting May 5-6, 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

 

There is no fee for attendance. No registration is required.

 

Among the speakers will be Duncan Double (Saturday) of the UK Critical Psychiatry Network and S. Nassir Ghaemi (Sunday), author of Toward a Hippocratic psychopharmacology.

 

From the Call for Abstracts:

In 1980 George Engel wrote: “The biopsychosocial modes is a scientific model constructed to take into account the missing dimensions of the biomedical model. To the extent that it succeeds it also serves to define the educational tasks of medicine and particularly the tasks and roles of psychiatrists in the education of physicians in the future.” Presented as a model for both medicine and psychiatry, Engel introduced the BPS model at a time when the biomedical model, already dominant in general medicine, was becoming ascendant in psychiatry. The article cited above was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in the same year as the publication of DSM-III, itself a reaction to the expropriation of DSM-I & II by psychoanalysis, as well as to the threat of the anti-psychiatry movement of the 1960s and 70s. In calling for a more holistic model for medicine and psychiatry, Engel was reviving the holistic approach to psychiatry initiated by Adolf Meyer earlier in the 20th century. The BPS model has had an uneven course over the ensuing decades, defended as the best model for a multifactorial approach to psychopathology, criticized for being general and obvious to the point of saying nothing. Conceptualized initially in the context of general systems theory, it now lends itself to further development through complexity theory, as in Kendler’s recent “Explanatory Models for Psychiatric Illness.” As we develop DSM-5 in the context of the struggles of DSM-III & IV to achieve diagnostic validity, the questions raised by the BPS and alternative models continue to be relevant and unsettled. This AAPP conference will provide the opportunity for clinicians, researchers, and philosophers to debate the merits and limitations, as well as the philosophical underpinnings, of the BPS and alternative models of psychiatric illness.

LOCATION

CROWNE PLAZA PHILADELPHIA HOTEL

Independence A, Second Floor 1800 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 866-618-0410

 

INFORMATION

LINDA MUNCY

Department of Psychiatry UT Southwestern Medical Center 5323 Harry Hines Blvd. Dallas, Texas 75390-9070 Tel: 214-648-4959 Fax: 214-648-4967 Linda.Muncy@UTSouthwestern.edu www3.utsouthwestern.edu/aapp

[Jemima]

I emailed for further information on this conference. It's about an hour's train ride from home, and as a senior citizen (hate that phrase), a very cheap trip.

 

The thing that bothers me most about withdrawal is that I never know how I'm going to feel when I wake up in the morning. I hope that by late April, I'll be having more consistently good days and can make a commitment to attend.

[Altostrata]

If you go, Jemima -- and I hope you feel well enough to attend -- please let us know what you find out.

[alexjuice]

Maybe Alex, who is pretty tapped financially after seeing doctors all month even with insurance and parental support, can attend.

 

I am going to look into this. I think it would be a huge step if I was feeling well enough to go to Philly, which, incidenttally, tops my list of American cities I want to see but have not yet visited. #2 is Akron, OH.

 

Alex

 

ps - Just kidding about Akron. Heard nothing but bad news about you, Akron.

[Altostrata]

Say hello to Duncan Double for me, please!

 

While you're there, you can also Occupy the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

[Barbarannamated]

Is anyone going to this? Not sure how I missed this earlier. Sounds interesting. May try to get there as Psychiatry converges on Philadelphia!

[alexjuice]

I want to but it's not gonna happen. Maybe next year.

[Altostrata]

Me, too.

 

If you're going to a meeting and want to hand out SurvivingAntidepressant.org business cards, please send me a pm with a snailmail address.