“Mental Health Days 2021” is the title of the two-day event organized by the Third Psychiatric Clinic of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the International Society on Neurobiology & Psychopharmacology, on 26 and 27 November 2021, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Thessaloniki.

According to organizers, “Mental Health Days 2021” is part of an attempt to achieve better quality in continuing education, with an emphasis on psychiatry based on research. Special emphasis was given on the mental health services currently provided, the needs of the community and the processes of primary healthcare and health services.

According to organizers, education focuses on “respecting and meeting the needs of the patients and their families as well as those of society in general, in an environment that is becoming more and more difficult, demanding and at the same time very complicated in its variety of structures and features, with quality and financial control becoming increasingly widespread”. And this happens in a period when, according to the organizers of the conference, “the healthcare provided to patients with mental health problems is undermined due to the suspension of the operation of Psychiatry Clinics in General Hospitals, as in the case of the Third Psychiatry Clinic in the University General Hospital AHEPA, replaced with clinics for patients with Covid-19”.

A special Symposium took place in the framework of the two-day conference, on the subject of mental health and the concept of danger. Professors of Forensics Medicine and Law exchanged views on the concept of danger and involuntary hospitalization, drawing upon the Circular by the Supreme Court of Greece.

During “Mental Health Days 2021”, an exhibition with works of art by the students at the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki took place in the premises of the conference, featuring social support organizations.

Programme

Friday 26 November 2021

09.00-10.30 Symposium

THE INFLAMED BRAIN AND ITS INFLUENCE IN THE MANIFESTATION OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Chair: Ioannis Diakogiannis

The common immunological basis of co-morbid mental and physical diseases

Grigorios Karakatsoulis

The role of systematic inflammation in mental impairment and neurodegenerative disease

Kalliopi Diakaki

The axis gut-brain in bipolar disease

Eva-Maria Tsapaki

Psychodermatology

Evgenia Chourdaki

10.30-11.30 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

CONTEMPORARY MENTAL DISEASES

Chair: Loukas Athanasiadis

Addiction to Internet and gaming

Maria Mylonidou

Orthorexia – New findings in eating disorders

Anastasia Chatzisavvidou

From addiction to withdrawal: caffeine & cannabis

Athina Prinou

The changing diagnostic approach and intervention in children in the spectrum of autism

Natalia Atzemoglou

11.30-13.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

MONITORING, TREATMENT AND HOSPITALIZATION IN VARIOUS DEPARMTENTS OF THE P.H.T. DURING THE PANDEMIC

 

Chairs: Athanasios Douzenis, Maria Markopoulou

The mandatory monitoring of the mentally ill and the prevention of relapse

Maria Markopoulou

The influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on involuntary hospitalizations in P.H.T.

Theodoros Triantafyllou

Management of the pandemic in the Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki

Maria Konstantinidou, Xanthi Leousi, Konstantinos Louvrou

13.00-15.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY IN THE FRAMEWORK OF MODERN CARE FOR CANCER PATIENTS

 

Chair: Diomidis Antoniadis

Psycho-oncology: urgent need in the care for cancer patients

Diomidis Antoniadis

The cancer patient’s stress before surgery

Vasileios Ν. Papadopoulos

Physical and psychological needs in the cancer patient’s journey

Ioannis Boukovinas

The “gifts” of genetics and the challenges of cancer

Athina Ververi, Glykeria Samolada

Nursing approach to cancer patients under antineoplastic therapy

Maria Lavdaniti

Psychosocial support for cancer patients. Emotion management for patients and healthcare professionals

Despoina Partsia

15.30-17.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

GENDER AND OTHER CHALLENGES IN MENTAL HEALTH

Chairs: Konstantinos Fountoulakis, Panagiotis Bamidis

After surgery for removal of genitals: the approach of psychiatry

Eleni Avramidou

Postpartum depression

Michaela Koummati

The challenges of technology in modern psychiatry

Alexandros Manafis

Psychosomatics as a clinical and academic challenge

Xeni Tzivri

17.00-17.30

17.00-17.30 ΔΙΑΛΕΞΗ

Chair: Anastasia Konsta

New facts from WHO on the consequences of hearing impairment on mental health

Vasiliki Iliadou

17.30-18.00 ΔΙΑΛΕΞΗ

Chair: Anastasia Konsta

Concerns of patients with chronic respiratory problems during the Covid-19 pandemic

Evaggelia Fouka

18.00-19.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

MODERN CHALLENGES IN STRESS DISORDERS

Chairs: Spyridon Kleisas, Anastasios Papakonstantinou, Achilleas Oikonomou

Pharmaceutical treatment of stress disorders

Achilleas Oikonomou

Stress disorders and sexual functions

Anastasios Papakonstantinou

Therapeutic dilemmas in stress disorders

Spyridon Kleisas

Saturday, 27 November 2021

09.00-09.30 ΔΙΑΛΕΞΗ

Chair: Konstantinos Fountoulakis

Conclusions after an effort to develop psychiatric services in the community for more than ten years

Nikolaos Bilanakis

09.30-11.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF MENTAL DEFICIENCIES

Chair: Konstantinos Fountoulakis

Mental functions in schizophrenia and bipolar disease

Aikaterini Stravoravdi

Recollection and mental rehabilitation

Olga Gkousi

Dance therapy for children with autism or mental deficiency

Panagiota Sacharidi

The burden on carers of people with mental deficiency

Aikaterini Simitsi

 

11.30-13.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES: CHANGING THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHIATRY

 

Chairs: Lilian Markaki, Petros Fotiadis

Innovation and new technologies in psychiatry: the Greek example, problems and advantages

Nikolaos Gouvas

Telepsychiatry during the pandemic

Nikolaos Nikolau

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): a new medical treatment that will change the practice of psychiatry

Theodoros Koutsomitros

Application of new technologies in mental health services in the military

Petros Fotiadis

13.00-14.30 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

EDUCATION OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES USERS:

A CONTEMPORARY DEMAND & NECESSITY

Chair: Maria Karanikola

Training of people with bipolar disorder by mental health professionals: qualitative study of content analysis

Anna Chatziioannou

Exploration of educational needs of families with bipolar disorder patients

Maria Karanikola

“Μanagement οf my Βipolarity” study & ΜοΒ Self-help group

Anna Chatziioannou

Managing difficulties in correctly administering medication to bipolar disorder patients

Maria Nystazaki

14.30-15.00 LECTURE

Chair: Petros Fotiadis

The experience of people with mental health problems in the workplace and expectations from supported employment in Limited Liability Social Cooperatives

Sotirios Koupidis, Chrysa Marteka

15.30-16.30 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

MANAGEMENT OF CONTEMPORARY PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS IN PRIMARY HEALTHCARE

Chairs: Athanasia Tzanakari, Christos Galanakis

Approaching depression during the pandemic in primary healthcare

Valentina Dislian

Deprescription of benzodiazepines in primary healthcare

Georgios Soulis

16.30-17.00 ΔΙΑΛΕΞΗ

Chair: Ioannis Nimatoudis

The psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare staff at “Ethical Trauma”

Petros Fotiadis

17.30-19.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO THE TIMELESS CONCEPTS OF MOURNING AND LOSS

Chairs: Ioannis Nimatoudis, Konstantinos Fountoulakis

Timeless and universal course of mourning

Efstathios Gavanozis

Neurobiology and nosology of mourning

Konstantinos Chovardas

Other forms of loss – the role of the psychiatrist

Alexandra Apostolidou

Psychological models of mourning and psychotherapeutic approaches

Vasileios Fotopoulos

Impossible mourning in the age of COVID-19

Magdalini Papaioannou

19.00-19.30

19.30-21.00 ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

DANGER AND MENTAL HEALTH. INCOMPATIBLE CONCEPTS?

DRAWING UPON A CIRCULAR BY THE GREEK SUPREME COURT.

Chair: Fotios Chatzinikolaou, Physician – Lawyer − Coroner,

Associate Professor, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Presentations:

Athanasios Douzenis, Professor of Psychiatry – Psychiatric Forensics, Athens University

Konstantinos Fountoulakis, Professor of Psychiatry Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Lampros Margaritis, Lawyer, Professor of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Christos Nastas, Lawyer, Chairman of a Three-Member Council, Director of the Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki

Anna Karamoschoglou, Lawyer, Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals of Thessaloniki

Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos, Lawyer, Prosecutor of the Court of First Instance, Head of District Prosecutor’s Office of Thessaloniki

21.00-21.30 AWARDS CEREMONY

 

Friday, 26 November 2021

19.00-20.00 ΔΟΡΥΦΟΡΙΚΟ ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟ

MANAGEMENT OF TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION: TARGETING A NEW PATH

 Introduction

Ioannis Diakogiannis

Treatment-resistant depression and existing choices for management

Aikaterini Vlachaki

Developments in treatment aimed at glutaminergic signaling

Dimos Dimellis

Summing up the facts

Ioannis Diakogiannis

Questions − Discussion

 

Saturday, 27 November 2021

11.00-11.30 ΔΟΡΥΦΟΡΙΚΗ ΔΙΑΛΕΞΗ

Chair: Ioannis Nimatoudis

Cariprazine: Effectiveness in a wide range of symptoms of schizophrenia

Grigorios Karakatsoulis