Welcome to the European Psychiatric Association [EPA] Section of Epidemiology & Social Psychiatry.
Our section is one of the most active in EPA, and our biennial conferences attract attendees from all over Europe and other continents. The conferences are known for attracting researchers at all levels in their career, and for their friendly atmosphere. We welcome participation from all professions involved in research and clinical work in psychiatric epidemiology and social psychiatry, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, nursing specialists, health economists, sociologists and other social sciences.
Psychiatric epidemiology is the basis for advancing knowledge on disease burden and etiology, prevention, mental health service, treatment and outcomes of mental health problems. We encourage and promote research into a broad range of topics from social psychiatry and the epidemiology of mental health. Social psychiatry is focused on the social causes and consequences of mental disorders as well as social networks of patients, and service planning. Psychiatric epidemiology covers a broad range of topics including both basic and applied research.
We have an official Academic Board, run by our Chair, Professor Arnstein Mykletun, co-Chair, Prof Christine Kuehner, General Secretary, Marie-Pierre Strippoli and councillors Prof Martin Preisig and Prof James Kirkbride. We also convene a Local Organising Committee for each conference, as well as a Scientific Committee.
Our next EPA Section of Epidemiology and Social Psychiatry will be the 20th conference of the section, to be held in Cambridge, UK, between 8-10 September 2022. Visit our Congress website to find out more. Previous meetings have taken place in Vienna (2018), Gothenburg (2016) , Ulm (2014), the Netherlands (2012) and Bergen (2010).
The Section Committee has previosuly elected the following Chairpersons: Heinz Häfner (1988-1992), Jules Angst (1992-1996), Anthony Mann (1996-2002), Povl Munk-Jorgensen (2002-2010), Thomas Becker (2010-2014), Robert Stewart (2014-2018), and Arnstein Mykletun (since 2018).
Occasionally selected contributions to our symposia have been published in a book, e.g. Goldberg D, Tantam D (Eds) The Public Health Impact of Mental Disorder. Hogrefe & Huber Publisher 1990; Katschnig H, Sartorius N (Eds) Quality of Life. John Wiley 1996.