Mental health issues affecting New Zealanders will be
discussed in Queenstown this week.
One workshop will be dedicated to those affected by the
Christchurch earthquakes.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
conference will be held at the Millennium and Copthorne
Hotels from tomorrow through to Friday.
There will be professionals from New Zealand, Australia and
New York at the conference.
Experts will discuss childhood trauma leading to health
problems later in life.
Questions about whether it is the trauma or the memory of it
that leads to later problems will be looked at in detail.
Prof Sandy McFarlane, from the University of Adelaide, will
look at traumatic stress suffered by those who have done war
service.
Prof Sarah Romans will give a lecture on "Mood and the
menstrual cycle".
Otago University's Dr Erik Monasterio will examine the
personality characteristics of participants in mountaineering
and base jumping, to determine whether there is a particular
profile associated with risk-taking in sport.
A lecture on clinical and neurobiological predictors of
suicidal behaviour will be taken by Prof John Mann, of the
New York State Psychiatric Institute.
There will also be talks from Prof Peter Ellis, Dr Cameron
Lacey and Prof Anthony Dowell, all of Otago University.
A welcome will be held at 9am at the Millennium Hotel.
This will be followed by Des Gorman's opening lecture on the
rescue of psychiatry.
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