This presentation will provide an overview of existing research on crisis-support training in virtual reality, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges of utilizing this training method. It will review current research trends in the field, identify gaps in knowledge, and propose directions for future research initiatives. Studies on crisis-support training that utilize a virtual reality training approach for professionals working with children and adolescents will also be presented.

None Declared

While generative AI (genAI) has made significant advances, millions of people are facing humanitarian crises, resulting in the denial of their basic human rights. One humanitarian response to addressing humanitarian crises is crisis support teams with knowledge of psychological first aid (PFA). In humanitarian crises, skilled practice in PFA by crisis support teams can strengthen the mental health of affected individuals, which can be crucial to ensuring societal well-being. At the same time, there are major challenges in training crisis support teams in PFA. With advancements in genAI, there are opportunities to develop virtual patient systems to enhance PFA training for crisis support teams. This presentation will share preliminary data collected through the genAI-agents survey, which explores technological openness, attitudes and learning through genAI and genAI-based virtual patient systems in healthcare education as well as specifically targeted questions to the genAI-based VP system Crisis Support-VR. This survey is a part of a larger project focusing a central research question Does Crisis Support-VR enhance the skills and ability of crisis support teams to deliver effective PFA, thereby strengthening the mental health of individuals affected by humanitarian crises with two interconnected sub-goals; • to empirically explore health and medical staff within children, youth and adult services learning in Crisis Support-VR, • to develop an educational module for training and practice opportunities in PFA to support and help national and international organizations train crisis support teams in applying PFA to children, youths an adults affected by humanitarian crises.

None Declared

Psychological First Aid is (thankfully) not something most people use daily – yet it’s crucial for responders to be trained, confident and fully prepared for unexpected emergencies. So how can we ensure this readiness? The answer is AI avatars in virtual reality! At VirtualSpeech, in partnership with Region Västra Götaland, we’ve developed AI roleplay simulations that enable crisis and emergency teams to not only practice their psychological support skills but also receive personalized feedback on their performance and tips for improvement.

None Declared

In recent years, developments in Generative artificial intelligence (genAI) have opened new possibilities for continuous education that were recently only science fiction. However, genAI introduces several ethical considerations and ethical issues continue to appear. These include privacy, ownership, accuracy, bias, psychological impact, and environmental impact. In this workshop we will consider where these ethical issues might specifically intersect with the development and implementation of genAI in training professional conversational skills in the context of professional mental health support. Understanding these ethical issues is important for ensuring positive and sustainable impact on society and individual health. As a part of this workshop, we consider theoretical issues, but we will also look at methods to ensure the development of ethical and trustworthy genAI systems, including transparency and human-in-the-loop methods, along with quality and risk management systems. Moreover, when considering worker health, it is will be important that future work empowers workers to continue to develop in their field, without introducing additional harms such as accessibility problems or exposure to harmful imagery or interactions.

None Declared

Introduction. Previous evidence showed significant discrepancies in psychiatric services utilization between migrants and reference populations in Europe. An important barrier for migrants to Europe is the lack of adequate legal entitlements. Sometimes these barriers are mistakenly attributed to cultural differences and misunderstandings because the term ‘culture’ may be used as a putative politically correct expression reifying social differences and neglecting discrimination. Our study aims were to evaluate incidence and characteristics of psychiatric hospitalizations of migrant patients compared with reference populations and to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected admissions. Methods. All patients admitted to the psychiatric ward “SPDC-Malpighi” of the Bologna Mental Health Department, Italy, from 01/01/2018 to 31/12/2020 were included. Differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were tested by migrant status. Incidence rate ratios of hospital admissions by migrant status were estimated via Poisson regression considering population-at-risk, gender, and age-group. Results. Migrants had higher hospitalization rates due to any psychiatric disorder (IRR=1.16). The risk was especially pronounced among women (IRR=1.25) and within the youngest age-group (IRR=3.24). Young migrants had also a greater risk of compulsory admission (IRR=3.77). Regarding admissions due to a specific diagnosis, we found relevant differences in hospitalization rates for psychosis, mood disorders, and personality disorders. Finally, migrants were more likely to be admitted via the Emergency Department and less likely to be referred from a specialist. Discussion. During the year of pandemic (2020) we observed an increase in the proportion of migrants admitted voluntarily or compulsorily. Migrants, especially those from the youngest age-group, had higher hospitalization rates for any disorder. Younger migrants were also at higher risk of compulsory treatment. The distribution of psychiatric admissions during the pandemic period seemed to have further increased discrepancies in mental healthcare needs and provision between migrants and the reference population. Tailored interventions and policies are urgently needed to address this issue. Keywords Psychiatric admissions · Migrants · Pandemic · Compulsory treatments References: Tarricone I, D’Andrea G, Galatolo M, Carloni AL, Descovich C, Muratori R; Bo-East Psychiatric Admissions Study Group. Psychiatric Admission Among Migrants Before and During Pandemic: a Retrospective Study in Acute Psychiatric Ward in Bologna, Italy. J Immigr Minor Health. 2023 Jun;25(3):507-521. doi: 10.1007/s10903-023-01464-7. Epub 2023 Mar 23. PMID: 36952152; PMCID: PMC10034892.

None Declared

Chronic (non-cancer) pain is a rising problem within Western population. Importantly, people with mental illness have disproportionally high levels of (chronic) pain. Prescription opioid medications are frequently initiated for the treatment of chronic pain. This, despite the growing evidence showing a lack of effectivity and an increased risk of complications such as the development of substance use disorders. Specifically, people with MH problems appear to be more vulnerable to lose control and develop opioid use disorders.

None Declared

Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, often experience higher rates of chronic pain compared to the general population. Potential shared mechanisms could be central sensitization, muscular dysregulation and altered pain experiences. Individuals with ADHD and chronic pain frequently have a lower health-related quality of life, including higher pain interference and depressed symptoms. Psychological inflexibility, insomnia and hypermobility are identified as mediators in the relationship between neurodevelopmental symptoms and chronic pain. Understanding these connections can aid in developing targeted interventions to improve the quality of life for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders experiencing chronic pain.

None Declared

Fibromyalgia is not a primarily psychogenic disorder, however due to high levels of comorbidity with psychiatric disorders and shared therapeutic targets, psychiatrists can play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome affecting around 2-5% of the general population. Fibromyalgia’s core symptom is the persistent generalized pain, its other symptoms include fatigue, stiffness, depressed mood, anxiety and sleep disturbance. Although some psychiatric symptoms are an integral part of fibromyalgia clinical presentation, in a significant part of patients their severity warrants a specific psychiatric diagnosis and management. Available data shows high rates of psychiatric comorbidity in fibromyalgia, with lifetime prevalence reaching 9-33% for anxiety disorders, 16% for post traumatic stress disorder, 63% for depression, 26% for bipolar disorders. Psychiatric comorbidity in fibromyalgia is associated with the severity of fibromyalgia, its impact on patients functioning, quality of life and socioeconomic status. Moreover, the works of our team have also shown that some psychopathological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, anhedonia, chronobiological preferences and circadian rhythm disruptions as well as some psychological traits are linked to lack of response to pharmacological treatment in fibromyalgia.

The current knowledge on fibromyalgia etiopathogenesis is incomplete and does not warrant a comprehensive description. There are no biomarkers or objective tests, which would verify the fibromyalgia diagnosis, which is therefore based primarily on the physician’s history-taking and fulfillment of criteria. In effect, the group of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia is most likely heterogeneous, regarding the biological basis of its symptoms, clinical presentation and susceptibility to treatment. This also means treatment is symptomatic and characterized by limited effects.

Fibromyalgia management requires a multidisciplinary approach, with emphasis on non-pharmacological interventions such as physical activity, cognitive–behavioral/mindfulness psychotherapy, physical therapies. For a large number of fibromyalgia patients these interventions are not sufficiently effective and there is a need for pharmacotherapy. The use of selective serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) and pregabalin, which are commonly used to manage depression and anxiety, is supported by best scientific evidence. Also other drugs used for psychiatric disorders such as amitriptyline, gabapentin, quetiapine or naltrexone (in low doses) were proven useful in fibromyalgia management.

This presentation will sum up current knowledge on psychiatric comorbidity in fibromyalgia and treatments which psychiatrists can offer to fibromyalgia patients.

None Declared

In recent years, artificial intelligence has increasingly demonstrated its potential to transform healthcare, particularly in the domain of psychopharmacotherapy. This workshop explores the integration of language models into the personalization of treatment strategies for special populations, including those with complex comorbidities or unique pharmacokinetic profiles. By educating language models with domain-specific data, we can enhance their capacity to support clinicians in decision-making processes, optimize treatment outcomes, and reduce the risk of adverse drug reactions. Attendees will gain insights into the methodologies for training AI models on tailored datasets, addressing challenges in bias mitigation and ethical considerations, and leveraging these tools for real-world clinical applications. This session aims to foster a deeper understanding of how cutting-edge AI can reshape psychopharmacological practices and empower clinicians with data-driven insights.

None Declared

Mental disorders in the elderly occur much more often than in young adults, and their prevalence increases significantly with age and in the case of people receiving institutional care. Psychopharmacotherapy in an elderly patient is much more challenging and requires more restrictive safety strategies than in younger patients. The significantly increased risk of interactions, side effects and complications resulting from: comorbidities, systemic changes due to aging and, as well as their pharmacotherapy, are a serious problem in the treatment of elderly patients. It should be emphasized that the safety profile may be different in the elderly compared to the young adults - some complications that are rare in younger patients, e.g. bleeding complications, fractures and bone loss, cataract progression, hyponatremia, falls, QT prolongation, stroke, pneumonia and others, are a much more common problem among seniors and their risk should be considered at the initial stage of pharmacotherapy selection. In the case of some drugs (e.g. antipsychotics), the accumulation of serious complications may significantly increase the risk of premature mortality, if they are used incorrectly. Moreover, it should be remembered that certain side effects, e.g. orthostatic hypotension, may occur with drugs for which these side effects are unlikely in younger patients. During the treatment process, it is also necessary to monitor the presence and severity of side effects, such as: constipation, dry mouth, tremors, urination problems, excessive sleepiness or cognitive impairment, which may reduce the quality of life, particularly in an elderly patient. This presentation will provide a brief and practical clinical guide to safe and effective pharmacotherapy in the elderly patients.

None Declared

In this presentation I will show that mental health treatment for people with dual diagnosis is not very different from treatment of mental disorders without addiction problems. There are a few points that will be raised like interactions with the drug of choice for the patients and the problem arising from compliance.

The most important point that will be presented is the fact that too many people with dual disorders go untreated. There is a need to rise awareness of this problem within our profession.

The main aim of treatment is often to replace some of the effects that the patients experience using drugs like depression, irritability, fluctuating thoughts and sleep problems.

None Declared

The biopsychosocial model was first conceptualized by George L. Engel in 1977 in order to explain the contribution of biological, social and psychological factors in determining mental (and physical) illnesses. This model gained new attention in recent years: while many authors consider it as a complete framework, others highlight its clinical, scientific and theoretic vagueness. A revised biopsychosocial model is being proposed, including causal interactions within and between biological, social and psychological factors as the benchmarks of the complexity of mental disorders.

None Declared

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness with positive, negative and cognitive dysfunctions and a significant deterioration in psychosocial functioning. Interactions between genetic predisposition and environmental stressors at the early stages of life, and subsequently a molecular level neurodegeneration process are important in the development of schizophrenia. Current approaches suggest that cytokines-induced neuroinflammation might have a role in the development of several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

None Declared

In this presentation, I will explore how the exposome paradigm can be leveraged to advance clinical practice in psychiatry. Specifically, I will highlight the potential of cumulative environmental risk scores to predict outcomes in severe mental disorders, such as the exposome score for schizophrenia (ES-SCZ).

Numerous socio-environmental factors have been linked to mental disorders, including childhood adversities, stressful life events, substance use, obstetric complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and urban living. Environmental factors do not exist in isolation; they form complex networks of interrelated and interactive elements. In this regard, the exposome represents the totality of an individual’s environmental exposures throughout their lifetime. The exposome framework introduces a holistic approach to embrace this complexity and a theoretical framework to investigate the poly-gene and poly-environment etiology of psychiatric disorders.

Guided by the exposome framework, we have recently estimated the ES-SCZ, a cumulative environmental exposure score for schizophrenia, including cannabis use, winter-birth, hearing impairment, bullying, and five domains of childhood adversities (emotional and physical neglect, along with emotional, sexual, and physical abuse). The ES-SCZ successfully differentiated individuals with schizophrenia, accounting for 28% of the variance in an independent case-control sample. Subsequently, we have tested the risk stratification properties and the predictive performance of the exposome score for schizophrenia in the general population. The ES-SCZ had strong discriminative performance for schizophrenia (AUC = 0.84) and was associated with the degree of psychosis risk in the general population. Finally, we tested the performance of ES-SCZ for dissecting the functional and symptomatic outcome heterogeneity in patients with psychosis in four different cohorts (EUGEI, GROUP, Athens FEP, and HAMLETT-OPHELIA). ES-SCZ was associated with poor overall functioning and cognitive impairment at baseline and follow-up visits. ES-SCZ was also temporally associated with poor symptomatic improvement from baseline to follow-up assessments, particularly the negative symptom dimension. Furthermore, models that included the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia and clinical features showed that the relationship between ES-SCZ and functional outcomes cannot be explained by genetic or clinical risk factors alone.

Overall, our findings demonstrate the potential benefits of the exposome score for schizophrenia, which can be integrated for early detection, outcome prognostication, clinical staging, and risk stratification in the future.

None Declared

Legalizing cannabis can yield significant benefits for public mental health by fostering harm reduction, promoting medical access, and mitigating societal stigma. While concerns about misuse exist, a well-regulated cannabis policy can outweigh these risks and provide a balanced approach to mental health promotion. 1. Harm Reduction through Regulation Prohibition often drives cannabis use into unregulated markets, where the lack of quality control increases risks of contamination with harmful substances. Legalization allows governments to regulate cannabis production, ensuring product safety and controlled potency. This can reduce incidents of adverse reactions, particularly those exacerbated by high-potency strains or toxic additives. A regulated market also discourages illicit activity, reducing exposure to dangerous drugs often sold alongside cannabis in black markets. 2. Promoting Medical Access and Mental Health Treatment Legalization enhances access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes, particularly for mental health conditions such as chronic pain and opens the door to explore the potential benefor for patents with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and. Studies indicate that cannabinoids can alleviate symptoms of stress and anxiety when used responsibly and under medical supervision. By integrating cannabis into healthcare systems, individuals struggling with mental health disorders can benefit from a natural and potentially less addictive alternative to pharmaceuticals like opioids or benzodiazepines, which carry significant risks of dependency. 3. Addressing Stigma and Encouraging Open Dialogue Legalization reduces societal stigma associated with cannabis use, enabling more individuals to openly discuss their experiences and seek help for misuse if needed. Public health campaigns can then focus on education about responsible use, mental health implications, and support systems. Decriminalizing cannabis also reduces the disproportionate criminalization of marginalized groups, fostering a more inclusive and equitable approach to public health. 4. Potential to Reduce Alcohol and Opioid Use Research has suggested that legal cannabis availability is associated with reductions in alcohol and opioid consumption, substances that are more harmful to both physical and mental health. By providing a less harmful alternative for relaxation or pain management, cannabis legalization could mitigate the societal burden of these substances, including addiction and overdose crises. Conclusion While cannabis legalization requires careful regulation to mitigate risks like overuse or dependence, its potential benefits for public mental health are substantial. By reducing harm, enhancing medical access, and promoting a more informed and equitable societal approach, legalization represents a forward-thinking public health policy that prioritizes well-being over punitive enforcement.

None Declared

Cannabis legalisation has undergone a rapid global transformation, with varying policy approaches and public health implications across different geographic areas and social contexts.

Several arguments have been proposed to support cannabis legalisation, ranging from control of the quality and potency of the market products, harm reduction, addressing the black market activities, reducing crime, and economic benefit. However, cannabis use has been associated with public health concerns, and it has been established as the most preventable risk factor for psychotic disorders.

This work aims to dissect the key arguments supporting cannabis legalisation through the following objectives: 1) reviewing the relationship between cannabis legalisation and the incidence and prevalence of psychotic disorders in countries where cannabis has been legalised, as well as changes in incidence rates over time in those countries where legalization is currently under debate; 2) examining the relationship between cannabis use and psychopathological outcomes using a syndemic approach; and 3) presenting original data from the epidemiological branch of the EC-1 study, aiming to identify risk factors for psychopathology, violence, and aggression in South London.

None Declared

Artificial intelligence (AI) and -omics techniques (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics) represent two rapidly evolving fields that are increasingly intersecting to transform clinical research and healthcare.

AI, aiming to mimic human intelligence through computational modelling, possesses extraordinary capabilities for big data analysis. -Omics, offering quantifiable and dynamic readouts of the molecular state of the subject, can generate large databases covering hundreds to thousands of molecules with complex relationships.

Combining AI-driven insights with the wealth of data generated by genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics can help uncovering complex biological networks, with the potential to revolutionize our understanding of disease mechanisms, improve patient stratification, and optimize therapeutic interventions.

In this presentation, the concepts of AI and -omics and their combined application to clinical research will be discussed, summarizing the strengths and limitations of these approaches. Studies leveraging AI across various -omics domains will be presented. Key advances, ongoing challenges, and future perspectives in this rapidly evolving field will be debated.

While still in the early stages, the synergistic partnership between metabolomics and AI represents an exciting frontier that holds great promises for groundbreaking advancements in clinical research and human health, paving the way toward a new era of precision medicine.

None Declared

Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by mood and cognitive fluctuations that manifest in speech patterns. Current assessments rely on subjective clinical evaluation, but advances in natural language processing (NLP) offer new opportunities for objective monitoring. This study analyzes speech from BD patients across different mood states—euthymia, mania, and depression—using structured tasks, spontaneous speech, and standardized text reading. Key acoustic, linguistic, and emotional features are extracted and correlated with clinical scales. Machine learning models are being developed to predict symptom severity and mood phase. This approach could provide reliable digital biomarkers, enhancing diagnosis, monitoring, and early relapse detection in BD. Standardized speech protocols may pave the way for international collaboration and large-scale validation.

None Declared

Burnout and mental health issues have become increasingly prevalent among psychiatry trainees and early career psychiatrists, posing significant challenges to their well-being. This presentation explores the multifaceted relationship between psychiatry training environment and the occurrence of burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a diminished sense of personal accomplishment. Factors contributing to the severe burnout in psychiatry trainees include long working hours, lack of supervision, and not having regular time to rest (Jovanović N. et al., 2016). Other potential factors described include the high demands of clinical responsibilities, emotional strain from patient interactions, and inadequate support systems. Encountering possible suicidal patients and coping with patients’ violence are other factors that can have a strong influence on psychiatry trainees and early career psychiatrists’ clinical activity, especially in the absence of appropriate training in the field and supervision (Chumakov E. et al., 2022; Longo G. et al., 2023). Studies indicate that a significant proportion of psychiatry residents experience symptoms of mental distress (Pitanupong J. et al., 2024; Toni F. et al., 2024) with depression being an important source of impaired mental well-being. Furthermore, the stigma surrounding mental health within the medical community often discourages trainees from seeking help, exacerbating feelings of isolation and distress. There’s no question that poor mental health can affect not only psychiatry trainees and early career psychiatrists’ personal health but also their professional development and patient outcomes. In this presentation the implications of these issues for the psychiatry field will be discussed. There’s a growing demand for advocacy for comprehensive training programs that integrate wellness strategies, enhance supervision, and promote open conversations about mental health. By fostering a supportive environment and prioritizing self-care, the psychiatry community can mitigate the risks of burnout and mental disorders among peers, ultimately leading to a more resilient workforce and improved patient care. This presentation underscores the need to support the mental health of future psychiatrists and ensure the integrity of mental health services.

None Declared

Burnout is a set of experiences and symptoms which occurred in the context of stress and high ideals in the helping professions who feel drained, exhausted, tired, listless and unable to cope. Burnout leads to disengagement, blunted emotions, helplessness and hopelessness with feeling trapped causing detachment and depression. Prevention of burnout is important and includes interventions at policy, institutional and personal levels. These resources must include financial and human resources where appropriate; prompt and culturally acceptable help is available and easily accessible. Institutions must allocate sufficient funds for well-being of its staff. Various steps can be taken but perhaps most important is accessibility of services in a non-stigmatising manner. These services must be confidential, fit for purpose and widely advertised and accessible. Physical space to rest and access to affordable nutritious food are important. Access to occupational heath services or primary care are important.

Dinesh Bhugra

None Declared