Conference reflections
The 33rd European Congress of Psychiatry, hosted by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), took place from April 5-8, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. I am grateful to the Royal College of Psychiatrists for the funding to attend this conference as part of my Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry award.
Under the theme “Towards Real-World Solutions in Mental Health,” the event aimed to bridge the gap between innovative psychiatric research and its practical application in clinical settings. It brought together over 9,400 professionals, including psychiatrists, researchers, and mental health advocates, to explore new approaches to mental health care. With Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain serving as Honorary President, the congress highlighted the growing importance of mental health in both European and global contexts, fostering an environment of knowledge sharing and innovation for the future of psychiatry.
The first day involved an introductory welcome event and reception, where there were opportunities to mingle and meet other delegates. Over the following three days, the congress featured a diverse scientific program, with plenary lectures, symposia, and workshops, providing opportunities for both seasoned experts and early-career psychiatrists to learn and collaborate. Joint sessions with organisations like the European Brain Council and the European Academy of Neurology addressed key topics such as collaborative care models and brain health policy. The topics covered a range of key issues in the medical and social sciences, reflecting how good psychiatry requires a broad perspective of the biological and social factors of healthcare.
This is a summary of my takeaways from some of the sessions of the Congress that I attended and my overall thoughts:
- The Impact of Adversity: Resilience and Wellbeing in Various Populations, with Yuval Bloch, Alejandro De La Torre-Luque, which covered examples on stigma against mental health in Moldova, the disparities in mental wellbeing in the migrant populations of Spain, with a higher risk of suicide in migrant populations, and the need for suicide prevention to include cultural sensitivity.
- The impact of the urban environment on mental health. Dominika Ochnik talked about loneliness in urban areas, including the greater risk of mental health risk factors there. Their study found that higher densities are linked to depression and increased loneliness in crowded environments.
- Dr Hanna Tu and the panel discussed real world solutions in mental health, including the impact of volunteering and short term social contacts on improving loneliness, as well as looking at the rehabilitation of those with psychosis.
- Elisabetta Scanferla looked at early interventions to support informal caregivers, such as psychoeducation and their BREF programme in France, which was found to reduce their depression score.
- The connection between internet addiction and cognitive function, where an adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study found a connection between higher screen usage and lower cognitive performance.
- A study from Italy on migrants and mental health, where everyone can access care without being resident, and Italian services found a higher rate of admission to the emergency department from migrants with mental health issues, with a more than 4x risk in migrant groups than the native population.
- On a similar topic, Professor Meryam Schouler-Ocak and Professor Dinesh Bhugra talked about migrant mental health, including an example from Germany for Syrian and Afghan refugees, and emphasis on the need for cultural competence training and more research in migrant mental health care.
- A session on refugee mental health that emphasised the refugee-specific traumas that contribute to worse mental health, with no ability to seek extra help, because of difficulties with forms and admin. This talk also emphasised the need for more cross cultural and heterogeneity training.
- A talk by Tomasz M. Gondek discussed what psychiatrists should know about culture when it comes to patients, including not always assuming that family will be able and willing to help, being aware of family dynamics, and isolation and harassment are risk factors for how able patients are to access care.
- Another talk on culture and mental health discussed how depression can present differently across cultures, and not all languages have the words to discuss these conditions, as well as being cognisant of cultural differences when creating a trusting environment with the patient.
- A talk on biomarkers related to depression showed how some medications metabolise differently meaning they are not always effective in everyone.
- Talking about the social determinants of mental health, Prof James Kirkbride discussed some of the biggest risk factors for mental health conditions, including economic hardship, abuse, adverse childhood experiences, intergenerational inequalities, and social isolation.
Preeti Kaur 