The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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After three exceptional days at International Congress, how would the fourth and final day compare? The College’s brilliant event organisers had made sure the answer was ‘very well’ and Day 4 began with an awe-inspiring talk from the award-winning Professor Dacher Keltner about the role of awe in managing mental and physical health. Moral beauty, nature, life and death and exciting experiences all have the ability to provoke awe, which in turn has mental health and wellbeing benefits, Professor Keltner told International Congress. One example was veterans with PTSD who saw their symptoms reduced following a white water rafting experience. The second keynote of the day focused on rehabilitation psychiatry. Professor Helen Killaspy of University College London, told the conference that about a third of people who experience psychosis develop complex problems that complicate their recovery. Rehab services focus on this group, and in her presentation she provided an overview of the evidence which shows these services are effective. They should be included in every local mental health system, she said. The keynote during the afternoon of Day 4 was an update on Mental Health and the European Convention of Human Rights. Judge Tim Eicke, of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition to keynotes there was a wide range of options during the split sessions, which included talks about women in leadership, the College’s Act Against Racism campaign, gambling disorder and much, much more. And of course, the fringe events have provided some wonderful opportunities alongside the learning. One of the highlights of Day 4included a fringe session on Bombay Dance Fitness, which offered a total body working set to music mixes of the hottest Bollywood tracks combined with Western top 40 songs. The high energy session gave attendees an exhilarating and hugely fun session they will remember for a long time. And that’s how Day 4, and indeed the whole of International Congress, might be summed up too: one that will last a long time in the memory, for all the right reasons. Follow the College’s communications to learn how you can sign up to attend Congress 2025, which will be taking place in Wales!

Sad to say goodbye to Edinburgh, but happy to have delivered yet another amazing #RCPsychIC. Bing thank you to the College organisers, the EICC staff, the exhibitors, the speakers, AND the delegates. Congress wouldn't be possible without any of you! See you next year in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿!

Congress day 3 which started with a session on Haiku-writing and finished with the Congress Party & Scottish dancing, there was a lot of academic content and thought-provoking talks for delegates to engage with.   The first keynote of the day – by Sir John Strang of Kings College London – looked at recent innovations to detect and prevent opioid deaths. Sir John made the case that 3 aspects of clinical practice & public policy need to be reconsidered: the timing of treatment, with more awareness needed of the most dangerous times for patients; how new technologies such as apps and wearables can help; and the need to develop better and more easy to implement interventions in an emergency.   Also in the morning, International Congress was privileged to host Dr Hilary Cass, speaking to us in her first keynote since the release of the Cass Review, about the report and her findings. She emphasised the Cass Review was independently commissioned, explained what informed the review, and talked about the evidence base, before going through the key findings. There was a question and answer session in which Dr Cass addressed some of the misinformation that followed the publication of the report. The College will release a blog post with a longer description of Dr Cass’s talk and the follow-up session later this week.   During the afternoon our President Dr Lade Smith interviewed Dr Humphrey Needham-Bennett about his book ‘What We Fear Most’, which he wrote under the pen name Dr Ben Cave. He wrote the book, Dr Needham-Bennett explained, because he felt that people are now talking a lot about mental health, but not about the reality of mental illness itself. How do we talk about mental illness as forensic psychiatrists, without talking about the negative tropes associated with our patients? Lade asked. “Education, education, education,” replied Dr Needham-Bennett. “We need to keep chipping away. If we portray what we do openly and honestly it has to help de-stigmatise mental illness,” he said.   Highlights from the fringe events included Professor Femi Oyebode running a session on Haiku. After a short talk about the structure of classical Haiku and some examples from Basho (a 17th century practitioner) and other masters, delegates were challenged to write their own Haikus.   And it would be a shame for delegates from across the world to visit Edinburgh without the opportunity to learn a little of the national dance. A fringe event called ‘Kilts and flings’ offered members the chance to learn Highland Dance, as well as a little about its history. Did you know a Highland Dancer will hop or spring vertically 192 times during a six step Highlight Fling? Not all delegates attained this, but the session was enthusiastically enjoyed by participants!   There was more opportunity to get dancing shoes on for delegates who attended the Congress Party, where a DJ and Scottish ceilidh helped ensure Day 3 would end with a swing.  

That's Day 3 of #RCPsychIC in the bag! How many days have you attended so far, and are you ready for the final day?! Don't forget to join in the conversation using #RCPsychIC! 🤓

WOW! Day 2 was one for the books! #RCPsychIC had Edinburgh rocking with amazing sessions and keynotes, eventful fringe sessions, and informative exhibitions. Can Day 3 top this? You'll have to join us to find out!

Day two in Edinburgh started at 8am with the choice of the Congress run (back in Edinburgh where the inaugural run took place in 2017), yoga and mindfulness sessions, before the serious business of the day began. The first keynote of the day saw Professor Andrew McIntosh, from the University of Edinburgh, talking about advancements in depression genetics research, and putting the latest thinking to good use. Prof McIntosh used advances from over 30 years of molecular genetic research in depression to provide delegates with a map to improve their clinical care. In one of the most fascinating talks of Congress 2024, titled ‘The improbable psychiatrist’, Dr Rebecca Lawrence, of NHS Lothian, was interviewed by Congress co-chair Professor Stephen Lawrie. She explained to a spellbound audience how she, once a patient with a severe mental illness, went on to train as a psychiatrist. Her experienced of psychiatric diagnoses, in-patient treatment, medication and ECT undoubtedly influenced her practice as a doctor, she told International Congress, and she’s gone on to become a consultant psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital where she was once an in-patient. Congress was also privileged to hear from Professor Ramalingam Chithiramohan of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust. Insomnia affects up to one third of adults. Prof Chithiramohan’s talk provided an overview of the role of orexin in the sleep wake cycle, its mechanism of action, its relation to insomnia, and key features of available drugs mediating orexin signalling. As well as highlighting the potential of orexin, the professor kept the audience entertained with some bonus sleep facts, including that dolphins sleep with one eye open. This afternoon, we heard from Professor Kenneth Kaufman, from the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, USA, on the role of stigma in people with epilepsy. It was an informative and sometimes touching speech, as he paid tribute to the help his wife, who was in the audience, had given him and spoke about children with epilepsy who play with big smiles on their faces, unaffected at that stage by stigma which becomes apparent later on. It’s been an exceptional programme of keynotes already this year and day 2 was also treated to hear from Professor Sophie Scott CBE, of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, on the science of laughter. Her presentation charted the evolutionary history of laughter and the complex ways people use laughter in social interactions. “We all laugh more than we think we do,” she told International Congress. “And we need to be taking laughter more seriously!” The day included a chance for trainees and students to meet the College Officers, there was a masterclass in coaching and mentoring and how it could help in professional development, and a chance to meet members of all 15 of the College’s Special Interest Groups.