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Welcome Address
DGPPN – German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Frank Schneider
Dear Colleagues,
Honoured Visitors to the DGPPN Congress 2009,
I would like by way of the present programme to offer you a very warm welcome to this
year’s Congress of the German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.
Mental illnesses are biopsychosocial phenomena. As such they are shaped by the special
circumstances of the life situation in which all sick people find themselves. Depression of an
adolescent, for example, is biologically, mentally and socially very different from that of a
person in the middle of life when professional and personal responsibility plays a key role.
In old age, on the other hand, other basic conditions determine our health and our illnesses.
These were the specific factors we wanted to highlight when we chose the main topic for
this year’s congress:
Psychiatric Disorders through Lifespan.
Two other special features will make the DGPPN Congress 2009 stand out: First you will be
surprised about the increased proportion of presentations in English. Following exten sive
consultations with the management board, we came to the conclusion that the DGPPN congress
continues to be and should remain a German congress. On the other hand we should
clearly keep in mind that we live in the centre of Europe and are closely linked to our neighbours.
I am reminded of this fact daily as a citizen of Aachen which is located in the border
triangle where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. Nowadays, the specialist field
of psychiatry and psychotherapy must always be considered and understood in a European
context. So this year, for the first time, there will be an English part of the congress which
will account for approximately 20 percent of the presentations. In this way we are leaving all
options open to you. You may concentrate on the German contributions or you may participate
in Europeanisation by following the English track. In each case, simul ta neous interpreting
will be available in German and English for the most important presen tations.
The second special feature is that you will come across more students during the congress
than in previous years. We have encouraged this development by means of a competition.
“Only the fastest medical students will win: 500 awards“ enable German medical students
to attend the congress free of charge. At the same time we have tried to gear part of the
programme specifically to these young colleagues. This will include specialist psychia tric
presentations as well as symposia on career planning and the future of our field.
This year, for the first time ever and as an extension to this, we will be awarding the Hans
Heimann Prize. It is a graduation prize for the best dissertations in the specialist field of
psychiatry and psychotherapy. Hans Heimann, formerly a professor in Tübingen and Past
President of the DGPPN, was passionate in his support of matters relating to new blood in
our field.
Against the backdrop of the three central trends of this year’s congress – lifespan, English
track and new blood in the field of psychiatry – the intention is to look at the following additional
aspects in depth during the congress:
n Prevention of mental illnesses
n Psychosocial and biological influences
n Mental illness in the transition from childhood to adulthood
n Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy
n Demand­driven care
n Quality assurance
n Remuneration of medical services
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DGPPN Congress 2009 – English Programme