Royal College of Psychiatrists Profile picture
Jun 24, 2021 14 tweets 16 min read Read on X
What can we learn from psychiatry in conflict and disaster zones? Three talks from members of the College's Volunteering and International Psychiatry Special Interest Group @psychvolunteer, chaired by Dr Sophie Thomson at #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer Starting with @LynneJonespsych, who explains that humanitarian psychiatry in the 90s was much different - 'everyone has PTSD, so let's give them counselling, and that's that'. Even in Iraq 2003, there was plenty of money - but it all went on PTSD. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych Western approaches to psychiatry were often culturally inappropriate - 'talking about feelings' may not work where the norm is rather close family bonds, and stoicism is expected, says @LynneJonespsych at #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych Natural disasters are 'somewhat easier' than warzones - unless your natural disaster is directly after another one, or just before Christmas. Unfortunately, the reality is some disasters get international attention, and some don't. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych What happens after an intervention? Looking at Haiti in 2020, there is still plenty to be done. We did not 'build back better'. And these things are going to get worse - climate-fuelled disasters are the number one driver of internal displacement. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych At exactly the moment we most need to help people and stick to our commitments, the Prime Minister has said that we need to use our aid budget, but he's not doing that. "The gap between words and action has never been wider," says @LynneJonespsych at #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych We need to address the issue of HOW we provide humanitarian needs – in many cases it's refugees helping refugees that is making the biggest difference. We may also need to stop thinking about aid, and start thinking about reparations, says @LynneJonespsych at #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych Now we have Dr Peter Hughes speaking from the College itself. He mentions Gaza, one of his favourite places - because of the people. But also a place where a rocket explosion is considered part of daily life, says Dr Hughes. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych But juxtaposed against explosions and other exceptional events, there's the normal, mundane events. Both of these can cause extremely difficult situations for people. And the high rate of mental health issues exacerbates socioeconomic problems. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych Dr Hughes says his main tool is the mhGAP, which focuses on training for non-specialists in mental health issues, as well as with neurological and substance misuse cases. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych Final lessons from Dr Hughes – "listen to the people" and make sure to use all the valuable skills you gain when and if you return to the NHS. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych Our last speaker in this session is @Ani5Ahmed talking about 'distant volunteering' – volunteering remotely in Rohingya refugee camps. He's been doing most of his work from his own desk, but around the world. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych @Ani5Ahmed Dr Ahmed wondered what he could do to help Bangladesh, using mhGAP and psychological first aid. Some lessons - be prepared, know your tools. And be ready for 'volunteer shock' - there may be haunting, harrowing stories of violence you're not ready for. #RCPsychIC
@psychvolunteer @LynneJonespsych @Ani5Ahmed The second lesson is the important of field visits, and understanding the ecology of the area - know the available facilities, understand the culture – spirituality is often one of the ways people deal with difficult situations, says @ani5ahmed at #RCPsychIC

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More from @rcpsych

Jul 13, 2023
Next up at #RCPsychIC is session S40 on ‘The placebo effect: insights for translational research and clinical practice’.

This will be chaired by Professor Samuele Cortese (@CorteseSamuele).
The first speaker in this session is Dr Nathan Huneke (@NathanHuneke) who will be talking about ‘Current knowledge of the placebo effect in anxiety disorders and future directions’ Image
Nathan begins by highlighting 50 years of drug trials for anxiety disorders.

Very few have been successful because we don’t understand the neurobiology and there has been poor validity of pre-clinical trials.

But placebo response is also a factor.
Read 18 tweets
Jun 23, 2022
Session S39 at #RCPsychIC is on ‘Precision medicine and personalised healthcare in psychiatry’ and is chaired by @RachelUTG.

This topic is the subject of a (free-to-view) @TheBJPsych themed issue:

cambridge.org/core/journals/…
First up in this session is Dr Rajeev Krishnadas (@WalkKD) from University of Glasgo. He was a guest editor for the BJPsych Special Issue and is talking about five points to consider when reading a translational machine learning paper.

#RCPsychIC Image
Starts off with explaining what ‘machine learning’ is with a definition of:

“Set of approaches that estimate the best mathematical/statistical model that explain or predict the relationship between ‘variables’”

#RCPsychIC
Read 25 tweets
Jun 24, 2021
Join us now in the auditorium of Virtual Congress to see one of our last talks of the day: "How to work with homeless people" #RCPsychIC
The agenda on today's talk is "Making services work for homeless people" with Dr Philip Timms @philip_timms a Consultant psychiatrist at the National Psychosis Service #RCPsychIC
After that, we have "Trauma-focussed practice with homeless people" with Dr Peter Cockersell @petercockersell the Chief Executive at Community Housing and Therapy #RCPsychIC
Read 17 tweets
Jun 24, 2021
Our final session of #RCPsychC virtual Congress we are talking about Religious Delusions and Hallucinations: Significance, meaning, and narrative with Dr Alison J Gray @revdraligray, Professor Christopher C.H. Cook @cchcook and Dr Angela Woods @literarti
Book: Hearing voices, demonic and divine

#RCPsychIC
Respondents: hearing voices

#RCPsychIC
Read 16 tweets
Jun 24, 2021
In one of our final split session talks of #RCPsychIC 2021, we'll be hearing from @RachelUTG, @PsychMarwaha and @sameerjauhar, chaired by Professor Allan Young: Care of Adult Mental Ill-Health: Getting it right from the start.
@RachelUTG @PsychMarwaha @sameerjauhar The first talk comes from @RachelUTG. Interesting findings regarding clozapine in treating first episode psychosis. #RCPsychIC
@RachelUTG @PsychMarwaha @sameerjauhar "Can we use anti-depression medication in a more thoughtful way?" asks @RachelUTG at #RCPsychIC
Read 10 tweets
Jun 24, 2021
So -we're nearly at the end of our first virtual #RCPsychIC - but there's one more set of split sessions to go! On this thread you can follow the 57th split session of this amazing event, which is about Dual Diagnosis from the public, clinical + academic perspective.
Our first speaker is Caroline Turiff, who has been diagnosed with a range of conditions inc OCD and PTSD, and is an award winning investigative broadcast journalist. #RCPsychIC
I've read 70% of people with drug dependency who have a dual diagnosis so it is the norm for them, she says. #RCPsychIC
Read 22 tweets

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