The 14th International Mental Health Conference - Call for Papers Open

The 14th International Mental Health Conference will be held at Outrigger, Surfers Paradise on Monday the 5th and Tuesday the 6th of August 2013.  Optional workshops will be held on Wednesday the 7th of August. The conference will focus on the complex mental health issues of Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Dementia.

The human, social and economic consequences of mental health disorders and illness are great, and there is a growing realisation of the serious limitations of focusing solely on treatment and rehabilitation. Addressing these factors to improve mental health requires that many organisations from diverse sectors within the community recognise how they can and do contribute to the promotion of mental health and well being.

Featuring Australia and New Zealand's finest clinical practitioners, academics, and mental health experts, the conference will motivate and inspire professionals (and future professionals) by sharing information about;

• On-going research and findings
• New knowledge developments: implementation of programs and strategies.
• Latest evidence and guidelines on early diagnosis and successful patient management.
• New treatments.
• Research validation of early intervention strategies and treatments.
• Prevention Strategies: examine and review effectiveness
• Translational Research - from lab bench to the clinic and individual patient.
• Discussion on research and best practice

Keynote addresses, submitted papers, workshops and case studies will examine how approaches and techniques can be incorporated into daily practice.

The conference streams will focus on Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Dementia and address; Primary Interventions - Promoting Recovery - Preventing Relapse - Policy Initiatives

Confirmed Speakers
Professor Philip LP Morris  - President Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association
Professor Philip Mitchell - Professor and Head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales; Convenor of Brain Sciences UNSW; Chair of the NSW Mental Health Priority Taskforce; Consultant Psychiatrist, Black Dog Institute, Sydney; Guest Professor, Shanghai Jaitong University; and Board Member of the Anika Foundation.
Professor Elizabeth Beattie - Director of the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre (DCRC) - Carers and Consumers (based within the School of Nursing at QUT).
Professor Michael Berk - Chair in Psychiatry at Deakin University. Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and the Mental Health Research Institute.
Professor Cynthia Shannon Weickert - , BA Mphil PhD - Macquarie Group Foundation Chair of Schizophrenia Research - Faculty – Department of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales

Peer Review Advisory Panel:
(Chair) Dr Julia Bowman PhD, Senior Lecturer, Occupational Therapy Program, School of Science and Health
Professor Elizabeth Beattie, Director of the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre (DCRC) - Carers and Consumers (based within the School of Nursing at QUT).
Scott Fanker, Service Manager, Mental Health Services, Liverpool Hospital

Mental Health and the Australian Population

In the E‐Mental Health Strategy for Australia, released by the Federal Government in 2012, the following statistics were provided;

"Approximately 17.2 per cent or 3.8 million Australians are estimated to be affected by mental illness in any one year – meaning that they experience symptoms at diagnostic levels, for either brief or extended periods.  This estimate excludes dementia and alcohol/drug-related disorders, except where these are concurrent with a mental disorder. The figure rises to about 20 per cent, or 4.4 million people, when alcohol and drug-related conditions are included.

A further 15 per cent of the population have experienced a mental disorder previously in their lives but not had symptoms over the past 12 months at a level that would warrant a formal diagnosis.  In total, approximately one in three (32 per cent) of Australians will experience a mental illness during their lives.  When alcohol and drug use disorders are included, this figure rises to 45 per cent of the population.

Anxiety disorders and depression are the most common disorders, affecting approximately 9 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, of the adult population each year.  Collectively referred to as ‘high prevalence’ illnesses, these disorders include diverse conditions (for example, post traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression), with differing treatment requirements and outcomes.

It is these disorders, in mild to moderate severity, that the evidence shows can be effectively treated through online programs.

Mental illness also includes other less common or ‘low prevalence’ conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Together, these two disorders affect approximately 1 per cent of the adult population in any one year, and 2 per cent over the course of a lifetime.  Prevalence rates vary across the lifespan and are highest in the early adult years, the period during which people are usually completing education, establishing families and independent working lives."
 
The 14th International Mental Health Conference will focus on the complex mental health issues of Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Dementia. It will be held at Outrigger, Surfers Paradise on Monday the 5th and Tuesday the 6th of August 2013.  Optional workshops will be held on Wednesday the 7th of August.