Saturday, Oct. 29
10:45 – 11:45 (1 hr)
Meeting Room: Cedar (Mezzanine)
Vincenzo Di Nicola*, MPhil, MD, PhD; Daphne Marussi, MD; Constantin Tranulis, MD
Supported by the Canadian Association of Social Psychiatry (CASP)

CanMEDS Roles:

1. Medical Expert
2. Scholar

At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Redefine social psychiatry and name and describe its main branches: psychiatric epidemiology, community psychiatry, and relational therapies; 2) Describe intimate partner violence, mainly against women, with examples of its mental health impacts and its importance in Canadian society; and 3) Discuss the ethical and practical aspects of suicide from the person-centred approach and the perspective of social psychiatry.

This workshop, sponsored by the Canadian Association of Social Psychiatry (CASP), reviews three contemporary Canadian psychiatric issues from a social psychiatry perspective. Presenter one (Montreal, QC) presents a social psychiatry manifesto, with an overview of social psychiatry in the 21st century, by surveying three branches of social psychiatry: psychiatric epidemiological studies and public health, community psychiatry, and relational and social therapies, such as couple, family, and community therapies. Implications for research, practice, and teaching in social psychiatry will be outlined. Presenter two (Sherbrooke, QC) explores intimate partner violence (IPV) which describes an alarming aspect of relational violence with major social psychiatric consequences: the physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current/former partner that is associated with many mental disorders from anxiety and depression to eating and substance abuse disorders. This presentation discusses different forms of psychological abuse and coercive control in IPV, the abused/abuser bond, and their impacts and consequences. Presenter three (Montreal, QC) reviews the 25-year-old model of early intervention in psychosis (EIP) and its impact on the field, with both positive and negative consequences for social psychiatry and for the mental health of the Canadian population. The EIP movement is influencing other fields of psychiatry, broadening its reach and methods. The presenter will comment on some intended and unintended implications of these trends.

References:

1. Di Nicola V. “A person is a person through other persons”: A social psychiatry manifesto for the 21st century. World Social Psychiatry 2019;1(1):8–21.
2. Snyder RL. No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us. New York (NY): Bloomsbury Publishing; 2019.