All-Russian eating disorders conference

All-Russian Academic and Research Conference with international participation “Diagnostics, treatment and prevention of eating disorders” was held in Moscow from June 1-3. 

During the event, a comprehensive discussion took place on the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders from the perspective of psychiatry, somatic medicine, psychotherapy, psychology, dietetics and other related specialties.

The conference was co-organized by the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and the Preventive Psychiatry Section of the WPA, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Moscow Healthcare Department, the Department of Psychology of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Moscow branch of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists.

The first day of the conference was opened by a plenary session that featured:

• Professor George P. Kostyuk, director of Mental-health clinic No.1 named after N.A. Alexeev and the editor-in-chief of the Consortium Psychiatricum journal, who spoke about the work of the Eating Disorders Clinic
• Professor Peter Morozov, WPA secretary general, who emphasized the relevance of studying eating disorders and talked about the issue of eating disorders in psychiatry in a historical perspective
• Olga Karpenko, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Consortium Psychiatricum journal and the chair of the Preventive Psychiatry Section of WPA, who outlined the unique opportunities for primary prevention of eating disorders and the role of social projects in preventing these disorders (in particular the educational social project «Рацион жизни» (Ration of Life) launched at the Eating Disorders Therapy Center)

Lectures were given by Antonina Starodubova, MD, chief freelance dietitian of the Moscow Department of Health, and Yuri Sivolap, MD professor at RUDN.

Nikita Chernov, Head of the Department of Psychotherapy and Social Rehabilitation, Mental  Health  Сlinic  No.1  named  after  N.A.  Alexeev, spoke about Organizational Principles of Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Eating Disorders Clinic.

Maya Kulygina, PhD (psychological sciences), senior researcher at the Department on International Collaboration of the Mental  Health  Сlinic  No.1  named  after  N.A.  Alexeev and a member of the editorial board of the journal, spoke about new approaches to eating disorders diagnostics. She presented the second revised edition of ICD-11 chapter 6 which is already available online on the website of the Moscow branch of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists.

A regular statutory conference of the Moscow branch of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists also took place during the first day of the conference.

Symposia devoted to modern psychotherapeutic approaches to eating disorders, their connection with borderline mental disorders, somatic complications, prevention and diagnostics of the eating disorders were held during the second day of the conference.

The symposium of WPA Section of Preventive Psychiatry “Prevention of Eating Disorders” gathered specialists from Russia and abroad. The organizer and moderator of the symposium was Olga Karpenko, the head of the preventive psychiatry section. Participants discussed primary and secondary prevention of eating disorders, paying particular attention to the role of digital technologies, social networks and virtual reality in the treatment and prevention and raised the issues of "digital hygiene" and "information literacy". Psychiatrists and psychologists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk addressed the Symposium, as well as Professor Nicholas G. Christodoulou (Greece), an honorary member of the WPA preventive psychiatry section.

The third day of the event was held at the Mental Health Сlinic  No.1  named  after  N.A.  Alexeev. It was devoted to practical issues of eating disorders therapy and included workshops and round-table discussions.

The Consortium Psychiatricum journal as well as the revised second edition of ICD-11 chapter 6 were presented at the conference as part of the exhibition. The journal was distributed among specialists, attracting new readers and authors.

We express our sincere gratitude to the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and to “Integrity” for organizing the event.

A detailed program of the conference is available on the Moscow Psychiatry Conferences website https://conf.pkb1.ru/  

© Photos provided by the press services of the the Mental Health Сlinic  No.1  named  after  N.A.  Alexeev and the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation