Archive • WPA

Obituary: Remembering our friend and colleague, Professor Bernard Janse van Rensburg (1960-2020)

WPA Archive

Apr 27, 2020

Obituary: Remembering our friend and colleague, Professor Bernard Janse van Rensburg (1960-2020)

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It was with shock and sadness that the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) received the tragic news of the sudden passing of Professor Bernard Janse van…

Managing COVID-19-related Mental Distress for People with High and Very High Support Needs

WPA Archive

Apr 27, 2020

Managing COVID-19-related Mental Distress for People with High and Very High Support Needs

Advice for Managing the Covid-19 Outbreak and the Associated Factors of Mental Distress for People with Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder

By Marco O. Bertelli CREA (Centro Ricerca e Ambulatori), Fondazione San Sebastiano della Misericordia di, Firenze, Firenze

Persons with Intellectual Disability (ID) and/or low-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are among those populations most vulnerable to the factors of mental distress as related…

As they face the unprecedented Coronavirus Pandemic, members of the Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society are working uninterrupted to serve the official institutions and organizations with which they are affiliated. From patient assessment and interventions at special COVID-19 units of the hospitals to the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatry and neurology patients in outpatient and inpatient clinics, their work continues both face-to-face and also via the online psychiatric services. Online educational activities are also being implemented uninterrupted in universities. Members of the Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society also contribute to community work in line with the needs and demands of both local governmental and/ or non-governmental organizations. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ejder Akgün Yıldırım, who is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society, an online psychiatric support service has been organized for healthcare workers who experience psychological distress as a result of COVID-19 healthcare-related burden. The service is given within the Psychotherapy Unit of Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry Neurology and Neurosurgery and also in cooperation with Turkish Ministry of Health.

WPA Archive

Apr 16, 2020

Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society Responds to Coronavirus

By M. Sıla Yazar, Secretary General of Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society Sera Yiğiter Çetingök, Treasurer of Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society

The Turkish Neuropsychiatric Society is also organizing two online meetings (live sessions) to address two important aspects of COVID-19. The first will focus on the…

COVID-19 is re-writing human history. Two thirds of the world is under “lock-down”, trillions of dollars in global savings and revenues have been wiped out, world GDP is contracting, and millions will be losing their jobs. It is shaking the entire health establishment of the world. The number of infected people is nearing two million and more than 113,000 people have lost their lives, including 100 doctors and many other health professionals. The world is looking at a calamity, worse than a world war and with no end in sight. India, with a huge population of 1.38 billion, is facing a daunting task. There is a nation-wide “lock-down” from March 24 to April 14, 2020 which is likely to be extended. The Union and State Governments are doing tremendous and co-ordinated work. The number of infected is nearing 9,000 with nearly 300 deaths. But we fear the worst is not over, and hence there is constant vigil. The enormity of the country’s size and population is making the task of the planners and health professionals much harder. Last week, in an effort to address the mental health impacts of COVID-19, the Dept. of Psychiatry at the Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India together with the National Alliance for Mental Health India, organised a lecture titled: COVID-19 and its impact on Mental Health.

WPA Archive

Apr 14, 2020

COVID-19 and Mental Health: Working together in India

By Professor Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, WPA Secretary General and Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry at the Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla, Kerala- 689101, India

Prof Roy Kallivayalil delivers a lecture on COVID-19 and Mental Health at the Pushpagiri Institute, Kerala, India. Enforced isolation, social rejection, and financial crisis can…

Special Update from the WPA President: COVID-19

WPA Archive

Apr 14, 2020

Special Update from the WPA President: COVID-19

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Colleagues, When I last wrote to you at the end of January, it was difficult to imagine that COVID-19 would be the force throughout our…

$Be Ready: WHO urges people to \"turn anxiety into action\" to slow spread of COVID-19$

WPA Archive

Apr 14, 2020

Be Ready: WHO urges people to "turn anxiety into action" to slow spread of COVID-19

By WPA Secretariat

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging people to "Be Ready" for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) by following simple recommendations to help slow its spread. Specifically, it…