CME Course: “Management and Treatment of Suicidal Patients”

On Sunday 4th March 2018, at the 26th EPA Congress in Nice there was the CME Course “Management and Treatment of Suicidal Patients” directed by Marco Sarchiapone and Vladimir Carli. The Course, chaired by Marco Sarchiapone, was attended by 33 participants, a really high number considering also the schedule (Sunday morning, starting from…).

Participants were very interested about the topic and highly interactive. During the 3 hours of the course, participants were offered theoretical knowledge via a frontal lesson format, but also had the opportunity of working in small groups to debate about the topic discussed. In the end, we had a very engaging group discussion, which allowed sharing of experiences in different European Countries.

Intersection symposium “Suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia in the elderly”

On Sunday 4th March 2018 it took place the Intersection symposium “Suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia in the elderly” organized by the EPA-SSSP and by the EPA Section of Old Age Psychiatry. A joint symposium involving these two sections had already been proposed at the 25th EPA Congress in Florence, and considering its success, it was decided to continue this fruitful intersection collaboration. In Nice, the Chairs of the symposium were Gabriela Stoppe and Patrizia Zeppegno, who were also presenters together with Reinhard Lindner and Christina Van der Feltz Cornelis. Many people joined the simposium; the debate about the relationship between aging, assisted suicide and euthanasia involved experts from all over the world and was really engaging.

In the past months, the topic was discussed not only by physicians, but also by politicians. For instance, in Italy, on 22th December 2017 it was presented Law n°219, about living will. Law 219/2017 allows adults to decide their end of life medical care including the terms under which they can refuse treatment. The law permits Italian citizens to write living wills and refuse medical treatments including artificial nutrition and hydration.

To know more click HERE.

Intersection symposium: “Suicidal Behaviour in the Vulnerable Populations: Focus on Migrants”

On Tuesday 6th March 2018 it took place an important focus on one of the main EPA topic, “Suicidal Behaviour in the Vulnerable Populations: Focus on Migrants”. The symposium was held by M.Sarchiapone and M. Schouler-Ocak. The first intervention by C. Gramaglia, entitled “Migrant’s suicidals behaviours: a transcultural perspective”, brilliantly introduced us into the actual topic; then, M. Schouler-Ocak presented “Suicide Attempt Rates and Intervention Effects in women of Turkish Origin in Berlin”, providing the audience an example of effective prevention. In the end we had the pleasure to assist to D. Bhugra intervention on “Attempted suicide among South Asians in the UK”. These speeches elicitated a very participated debate and wide spreaded discussion adding enriching hints of knowledge in the audience which participated with interest.