Greeting

President: Kazuhiko Nakayama Professor, Department of Psychiatry, The Jikei University School of Medicine

Kazuhiko Nakayama
The 112th Annual Meeting of the Japanese
Society of Psychiatry and Neurology
Professor, Department of Psychiatry,
The Jikei University School of Medicine

The 112th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology will be held from Thursday, June 2 through Saturday June 4, 2016 at Makuhari Messe and the Apa Hotel & Resort (Tokyo Bay Makuhari). This year's meeting is being held under the banner "Psychiatry - Honest and True - Pilgrimage to the Origin." Today a global perspective is considered to be vital. Our usual go-to words and phrases are those that immediately strike a chord with an international audience and probably make this year's banner phrase seem kind of dull in comparison. If you just look at those words they don't make much of an impression so let me underscore their meaning. Psychiatry, its purpose and role, is universal. It's about improving mental health, helping patients and their families, and giving back to society. It must be "honest and true." These words embody the essence of psychiatry and I invite you to join us at this year's meeting to work together in the spirit of this phrase.

As always the meeting will be planned and operated by the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology. It will feature special lectures on timely topics by Japanese and international speakers, educational lectures, symposiums, the latest installment in the Meet the Pioneer series, and more. As chair of the meeting, I’ve identified some topics to explore that are in line with the meeting's main theme. They include:

1. Listening to patients

Practicing patient-led care is really very difficult. Widespread use of operational diagnostic criteria has made it even more difficult to listen to patients. We will look into how we can get patient input and what we should do to make psychiatric care more patient-centered.

2. A clinical course study: From acute to chronic and convalescent phases of mental illness

While progress has been made in acute mental health services and treatment, there are still poorly defined symptomatologies out there. Being the chair of the meeting, I have the liberty of choosing where we will focus our discussions. At the risk of appearing old-fashioned or turning people off, I’ve chosen to look at atypical psychosis and catatonia. Atypical psychosis occurs when one’s grasp on life is completely shaken loose while catatonia represents a life-saving defense mechanism. Pioneers in the field have been studying related pathophysiological processes, criteria, and clinical courses for the last 100 years in a long path that leads straight to the heart of patient-centered care.

3. Women's mental health

If we look back over the progress made in the field of medicine, we notice that women have been left out the picture. The menstrual cycle has been typically viewed as a nuisance in medical studies. Female rats aren't even used in basic medical research. Then there is the fact that women were totally excluded as subjects of diagnostic imaging research. The reality is that the majority of acute and atypical psychosis patients are women. Twice as many women suffer from emotional disorders than men. Psychiatry must take a closer look at female patients with an eye to realizing better mental health care for all.

4. Suicide

The fact that there are so many cases of suicide is proof that mental health care is not touching patients' hearts. We'll hear from experts in the field who will share their insights.

5. Psychiatry and religion

Psychiatry and religion are inseparably linked with one another. It's vitally important to look at religion from a social psychiatric point of view (early intervention, prevention, rehabilitation, family, independence). This meeting will be an opportunity to discover expert opinions on the matter as we discuss the topic together.

6. Morita therapy

Morita therapy is not only an asset to the Jikei University School of Medicine but a treasure to the entire psychiatric field. During the meeting we will explore life and death as well as the way to live through Morita therapy.

7. Basic and clinical psychopharmacology: Role of psychotropic drugs and related problems

While the foundation of psychiatric treatment may rest upon drug therapy, it is riddled with holes. We must pay careful attention to what our patients are saying and how they really feel about being medicated. That's the only way we'll be able to scratch the surface of that innocuous sounding word, "adherence," and conduct research aimed at realizing health care services that incorporate their true feelings.

8. Epilepsy: Progress in treatment and role of psychiatrists

It may seem strange to choose epilepsy as the final topic, but it's a disease that ought to fall under the jurisdiction of psychiatrists. In fact, it is treated by doctors who specialize in a range of other areas. Epilepsy's symptoms are psychiatric and it is a chronic illness that no specialty other than psychiatry is better equipped to handle. Let's not forget that psychiatry is grounded in the pathophysiological study of epilepsy.

I have mentioned eight topics so far, but we'll actually explore many more and you'll find that every one of them falls squarely under the banner, "Psychiatry - Honest and True - Pilgrimage to the Origin." I hope this year's meeting will be an opportunity to renew our sincere commitment to being "honest and true" and bring all of us together in taking psychiatry and neurology to new heights.