Psychotherapists Face New Challenges in Treating Depression and Anxiety

Experts at the Anxiety and Depression Conference 2016 will address what the future may hold for treating mental illnesses. More than 1,200 experts will convene at the annual event sponsored by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).

Silver Spring, MD (PRWEB) March 21, 2016

Two of the most pressing issues facing mental health professionals are how best to treat patients and the future of their field. Experts will discuss these and other relevant topics when they convene at the Anxiety and Depression Conference 2016. Sponsored by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), the conference draws more than 1,000 clinicians and researchers who specialize in anxiety, depression, PTSD and OCD. Under the theme “Integrating Research, Practice, and Community,” they will meet March 31–April 3 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Distinguished therapists and psychiatrists will focus on the challenges facing those who treat anxiety and mood disorders. These are among the best understood brain disorders, and effective evidence-based psychological and pharmacological treatments are available.

“Patients often have questions about whether they are receiving the most appropriate care for mood and anxiety disorders,” says ADAA President Karen Cassiday, PhD, a psychologist at the Anxiety Treatment Center and Rogers Behavioral Health Chicago, “even though a wide range of evidence-based mental health interventions are available.” She explains, “Scientific research leads to new and novel treatment approaches, so clinicians are faced with more and more information all the time.” Those who attend the conference will take away a much greater sense of the variety of mental health treatments for their patients who need help now — and in the future.

Anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults and one in eight children in the United States. They interfere with daily functioning and often lead to depression, substance use, suicide attempts, and other disorders.

Depressive disorders affect about 19 million American adults. More than 50 percent of people diagnosed with depression also have an anxiety disorder. Coexisting anxiety and depression account for the most disabling mental health disorders in the United States.

Harvard psychologist and MacArthur “genius” Matthew Nock, PhD, will deliver the keynote address, “Why Do People Harm Themselves? Recent Advances in the Understanding and Prediction of Suicidal Behavior.” His focus is on the prevalence and characteristics of suicidal behavior, as well as the risk factors and ways to improve prediction that can lead to reducing its high rate—the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. In an interview with The New York Times, Dr. Nock said, “We’ve had theories of suicide for a long time and no data. Now we want to work from the other end.”

Many of the world’s most experienced and knowledgeable clinicians and researchers will also address other issues related to anxiety and depression, among them shame, marijuana use, trauma, genetic testing, new and novel pharmacotherapies, insomnia, personality disorders, selective mutism, anxious children and culturally sensitive therapy for minority and LGBTQ communities.