В конце февраля в Национальном медицинском исследовательском центре психиатрии и неврологии им. В.М. Бехтерева, г. Санкт-Петербург, был проведен I Всероссийский конкурс лучших региональных психотерапевтических практик «Феникс: Призвание и Мастерство» в рамках Всероссийской научно-практической конференции с международным участием «Клиническая психотерапия: в поисках идеальной практики» (памяти Б.Д. Карвасарского). В конкурсе принял участие наш сотрудник – руководитель Отдела образования Института психического здоровья Университета «Реавиз», детский психиатр, кандидат медицинских наук, ведущий научный сотрудник Центра им. Г.Е. Сухаревой Олег Замильевич Хайретдинов.

По итогам конкурса Олег Замильевич получил Диплом Лауреата 2-й степени и статуэтку «Феникс: Призвание и Мастерство» в номинации «Лучший тематический проект в области психотерапии» за работу «Совершенствование психотерапевтической помощи с применением телемедицинских технологий в детском психиатрическом стационаре».

Поздравляем Олега Замильевича и желаем новых побед!

Dr. Xenia Gonda, MA, PharmD, PhD is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist also holding a degree in pharmacology. She works as a full time clinician in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Semmelweis University of Budapest, is engaged in teaching at the same department and also at ELTE Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, and in research at NAP-3.0 Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group. An author of more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters, her research interests include, among others, psychological symptoms associated with the female reproduction cycle, sex differences in affective disorders and their neurobiological bases, as well as factors determining success of IVF treatment.

Dr. Daria Smirnova, MD, PhD (Psychiatry) currently acts as an Associate Professor of Reaviz Medical University, Russia, and Board Member of Psychiatric Studies Centre, Italy. Her main research interests focus on affective disorders and schizophrenia, in particular, the psycholinguistic approach related to these mental disorders. She has coordinated several international studies, including the COMET Big Data Study. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including 90 in Scopus, she has authored several influential books and chapters. She is an active member of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA Evidence based psychiatry Section, WPA Section on Women’s Mental Health), European Depression Association (EDA), International Association of Women’s Mental Health (IAWMH), and other professional organizations.

Prof. Florence Thibaut is the Honorary President of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry, Past President of the International Association of Women’s Mental Health, Chair of the Women’s Mental Health Section of the World Psychiatric Association, and Editor-in-Chief of Dialogues in Clinical Neurosciences.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience welcomes original Research Articles, Brief Reports, and Review/State of the Art. Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

Please be sure to select the Article Collection ‘Women Are Unique: Contemporary Research in Mental Health for Better Realities in Female Populations’ from the drop-down menu in the submission system. Failure to select the appropriate Article Collection can result in delays.

Please contact Sam Zhang at sam.zhang@taylorandfrancis.com with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

WPA Women’s Mental Health Symposium at the 23rd WPA World Congress of Psychiatry .on September 28th – October1st 2023 in Vienna, Austria

Our group of female collaborators who represent national psychiatric communities, International Association of Women’s Mental Health, European Depression Association, and World Psychiatric Association (Women’s Mental Health Section), managed a Symposium titled “SUICIDALITY IN EUROPEAN WOMEN: FINDING STRENGTHS TO OVERCOME UNCERTAIN TIMES TOGETHER” during the 23^rd WPA World Congress of Psychiatry taken place on September 28^th – October1st 2023, Vienna, Austria.

 Chairpersons of the symposium Prof. Florence Thibaut (France) and Assoc. Prof. Daria Smirnova (Russia) supervised the program including four challenging topics:

• “Death is a supple suitor”: The overlooked impact of suicidality in women
• Xenia Gonda, Budapest, Hungary;

2) Prevalence of suicidal behaviours and its correlates in women living in European countries: based on epidemiological studies

• Jelena Vrublevska, Riga, Latvia;

3) Modelling suicidality risks in female populations and understanding the phenomenon of suicidality via pandemic context – Daria Smirnova, Samara, Russia;

4) Depression, suicides and conspiracy theories in female populations – A cultural crossroads matrix

• Anca-Livia Panfil, Timisoara, Romania

The symposium focused on the aims of promoting gender-sensitive health services for women with suicidal experiences, based on current findings in social psychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology, and lessons learnt about psychosocial stressors arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

Suicides account for 71% of intentional violent deaths in women compared to 50% in men, females are 2-3 times more likely to attend hospital following a suicidal act, and women are also highly overrepresented in all forms of suicidal behaviour, including also ideation and attempts, which should be taken into account within the accurate understanding of the complex phenomenon of suicidality.

The talks discovered key findings of international multicentre projects organised by the representatives of World Psychiatric Association (COMET-G study), International Association of Women’s Mental Health (IAWMH), European Depression Association (EDA) and national psychiatric communities, focusing on the gender gap and gender paradox in suicidal behaviour, discussing specific and differential aspects of suicide in women, as well as female-specific risk and protective factors based on the data from European countries. Theories and explanations for the gender specificity in suicidal behaviours, prevalence rates of suicides in women living in European countries, understanding suicidality phenomenon via pandemic context, suicidality correlates with depression and conspiracy beliefs existing in European cross-cultural matrix of values and diversities, have been reviewed.

To conclude, our international team formulated actionable resolutions of key recommendations for recognising and screening of suicide risks in women, as well as treatment and prevention strategies for protecting and improving women’s mental health.

International Association of Women’s Mental Health
9th International Congress on Women’s Mental Health “Determination and Solidarity” November 6^th-8^th 2022, Maastricht, the Netherlands

The 9th International Congress on Women’s Mental Health “Determination and Solidarity” was held on November 6^th-8^th 2022 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Our international team presented a symposium “SHE WAS THE PHANTOM OF DELIGHT: WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH – FROM SUICIDAL THOUGHTS TO ACTIONS FOR A PROSPEROUS LIFE” under the supervision of the President of the International Association of Women’s Mental Health, Prof. Florence Thibaut (France). The title of the symposium was suggested by our creative colleague Assoc. Prof. Xenia Gonda and is consonant with the idea of ​​​​an art of English poetry (She was the phantom of delight by William Wordsworth).

The Symposium program included presentations on the topics the pathogenesis of depression and suicide, taking into account the role of trauma and stress (Xenia Gonda, Budapest, Hungary), anxiety disorders in women and health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (Jelena Vrublevska, Riga, Latvia), the implementation of the WHO recommendations to protect the rights of women experiencing mental health disorders within the framework of the destigmatization program and the provision of timely psychological and psychiatric care, taking into account the psychotraumatic experience and cultural aspects of Asian countries, including the phenomenon of VAW – violence against women (Daria Smirnova, Russia, Salmi Razali, Malaysia).

The atmosphere of the congress was ufriendly and productive. In addition to psychiatric lectures, the famous primatologist Professor Franz Waal from the University of Utrecht delivered a keynote lecture on a biological topic in the format of an extended TED-Talk about how socialization and the continuation of the active life of generations had been mainly grounded on women, and among monkeys, the “leaders of evolution” were alpha individuals of a female gender, not male ones, the information was perceived critically.

Detailed information about the congress with participants from 45 countries from all continents is available at the website by the link: https://www.iawmh2022.org

The conference program is available by the link: https://www.iawmh2022.org/programme/

Maastricht University Rating

• According to THE World University Rankings[en] 2019, Maastricht University ranks 128th.
• QS World University Rankings 2019 placed Maastricht University 211th in the world.
• Shanghai Ranking (ARWU) 2018 placed the university in the 201-300 range.
• The QS Top 50 Under 50, placed Maastricht University 15th in 2019[16], while the Times Higher Education THE 150 Under 50ranked it 5th in 2018

Faculty of Medicine, Life and Health Sciences

Randwyck Campus: Faculty of Medicine

Randwyck Campus: University Hospital and Nobel Laureate Peter Debye Monument

The Faculty of Medicine, Life and Health Sciences was formed in 2007 by merging the Faculty of Health Sciences with the Faculty of Medicine, which was the oldest faculty at Maastricht University. The Faculty of Health Sciences was founded in 1980. The broad range of subjects taught in the field of human health made this faculty truly unique, not only in the Netherlands but also in Europe. This format of study allowed students to integrate their research work in the fields of social and medical sciences.