Event Date
Tue 26 Feb 2019 16:00 to 17:00

The prevention of mental disorders is a global public health priority. Current limitations in treatment effectiveness, and the high psychological, social, and economic burden associated with mental ill-health make prevention the obvious solution.

Prevention efforts aim to reduce the incidence, prevalence, and recurrence of mental disorders via targeted interventions for vulnerable populations or universal programs to promote mental wellbeing and resilience in the general population.

However, high suicide rates and comorbidity among mental disorders are increasingly challenging, and thus raise the question – Has prevention in psychiatry failed?

Our speakers will debate this topic in an era where adverse conditions such as child abuse, violence, war, poverty and lack of access to education are significantly impacting the mental health of entire populations at an alarming scale.

Please join us to hear this topical debate as part of the UNSW School of Psychiatry academic forums. This promises to be a session of the highest calibre.

Speaking for the motion: Professor Vaughan Carr

Speaking against the motion: Scientia Professor Helen Christensen

Moderator: Professor Melissa Green

Vaughan Carr is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, Senior Principal Research Scientist at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), and Professor of Psychiatry at Monash University. His research spans the disciplines of clinical science, cognitive neuroscience, neurobiology, genetics and epidemiology. He has led several large-scale national research collaborations in schizophrenia, health service evaluation and health economics, including the NSW Child Development Study to identify risk and protective factors for adult mental illness and related problems.

Scientia Professor Helen Christensen (AO) is Director and Chief Scientist at the Black Dog Institute and a Professor of Mental Health at UNSW. She is Chief Investigator for the Centre for Research Excellence in Suicide Prevention, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Elizabeth Blackman Fellow in Public Health, and previously one of only two NHMRC John Cade Research Fellows.

Location
Berg Family Foundation Seminar Room (Kirby Institute)

Cost
free

Open to
Public