ABSTRACTS - World Psychiatric Association

taken into account and mood disorders during the peri-partum are
undermanaged and go untreated. As for post-partum depression,
maternal responsibility and guilt often become the main issues highlighted
in studies preoccupied by the impact of maternal depression
on infant development. This workshop will focus on all these different
aspects of psychiatric issues related to reproduction. A review of
the literature, methodological issues and therapeutic management of
all situations will be provided. A general comprehensive discussion
encompassing reproductive women’s mental health issues will complete
our presentation.
SW4.
HUMANITIES IN MEDICAL TRAINING
AND IN THE HEALING PROCESS
(organized by the WPA Section on Literature
and Mental Health)
Y. Thoret (Poissy, France), E. Sukhanova (New York, NY, USA),
A. Rivas (Guadalajara, Mexico), S. Kato (Tochigi, Japan),
E. Saad de Janon (Guayaquil, Ecuador), L. Küey (Istanbul,
Turkey)
Our Section intends to promote humanities and literature in medical
education, in order to help medical students to develop their critical
and analytical skills and to better understand the socio-cultural patterns
of mental health and pathology. Many institutions of higher
learning are now considering ways to incorporate studies in the
humanities in their undergraduate curricula for medical students. Our
Section is putting together a proposal for a core curriculum in medical
humanities, including a multicultural suggested reading list, main
learning outcomes and goals, and supplementary materials such as
sample course syllabi. This workshop comments on three texts which
could be presented to the students, dealing with treatment in psychiatry
and, more precisely, the process of healing in this field of pathology.
SW5/6.
CULTURE, HUMOR AND PSYCHIATRY:
A SYNTHESIS (Parts I and II)
(organized by the WPA Section on Transcultural
Psychiatry)
R. Wintrob (Providence, RI, USA), M. Weiss
(Basel, Switzerland), T. Akiyama (Tokyo, Japan), J.D. Kinzie
(Portland, OR, USA), K. Bhui (London, UK), R. Bennegadi
(Paris, France), P. Leung (Portland, OR, USA), L. Küey
(Istanbul, Turkey), J. Obiols-Llandrich (Andorra),
D.L. Mkize (Durban, South Africa), Y. Thoret (Poissy, France),
M.R. Jorge (São Paulo, Brazil), S. Villaseñor Bayardo
(Guadalajara, Mexico), H. Wahlberg (Stockholm, Sweden),
S.O. Okpaku (Nashville, TN, USA), J. Cox (Stoke-on-Trent, UK)
There is no culture that does not appreciate humor, and every culture
expresses humor in unique ways. Humor has as its most fundamental
purpose the relief of stress and anxiety. The situations that encompass
humorous anecdotes are firmly rooted in every culture’s conceptions
of human frailties, fears, longings and aspirations. Wishes for selfaggrandizement
are balanced by fear of exposure and ridicule. Wishes
for wealth, power, attractiveness and vigor are countered by the all
too frequent realization that such wishes cannot be realized except in
dreams and in humor. In this workshop, psychiatrists with experience
in both clinical and cultural psychiatry in many parts of the world
address the relationships between culture, humor and psychiatry in
the cultures they know best. They use humorous anecdotes to illustrate
what humor reveals about personality, personal and social conflict
and its resolution, and how psychology and psychiatry provide a
substrate and interpretative focus for the many-layered meaning of
humor cross-culturally.
SW7.
WOMEN AND WORK STRESS
(organized by the WPA Section on Women’s Mental
Health)
U. Niaz (Karachi, Pakistan), M.B. Rondón (Lima, Peru),
D.E. Stewart (Toronto, Canada), A. Riecher-Rössler (Basel,
Switzerland)
Gender differences in work-related health conditions have been
researched worldwide over the past two decades. An extensive and
relevant literature on women’s work and mental health issues is now
available. Paid employment, in particular, has been considered an
important part of women’s living conditions, as the number of women
entering the labour market has grown constantly over the past
decades. As a matter of fact, occupation ranks sixth amidst the ten
major risk factors for the global burden of disease that affect disproportionately
women. According to World Bank estimates, from 1960
to 1997, women have increased their numbers in the global labour
force by 26%. Today, women make up about 42% of the estimated
global working population, making them indispensable as contributors
to national and global economies. This is true in developed and
emerging countries. Women’s work is generally associated with better
health. Nevertheless, as women have become more assimilated into
the workforce, they have realized considerable changes in their traditional
roles, which may contribute to health problems. In particular,
the multiple roles that they fulfil in society render them at greater risk
of experiencing mental problems than others in the community. Many
studies seem to show that female workers may be exposed to some
gender related stressors which could threaten their mental health and
well-being. Fostering a good work-life balance will improve the possibilities
for women and men to enjoy both work and family, without
being forced to choose between the two.
SW8.
TREATMENTS FOR PREGNANT WOMEN
WITH CHRONIC MENTAL DISORDERS
(organized by the WPA Section on Perinatal
Psychiatry and Infant Mental Health)
J. Cox (Stoke-on-Trent, UK), N.M.-C. Glangeaud-Freudenthal
(Villejuif, France), A.-L. Sutter-Dallay (Bordeaux, France),
N. Garret-Gloanec (Nantes, France), G. Apter-Danon (Antony,
France), O. Omay (Tain l’Hermitage, France)
Treatments during pregnancy are an important issue because of their
consequences, not only for women’s health, but also for the foetus
and future infant’s development. The analysis of two different data
bases about the prescription of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy
will be presented and discussed. A review of literature will open a discussion
on practical and ethical issues of chemotherapeutic treatment
strategies, as well as other approaches, such as specific pregnancy
psychoeducation. A European database (1032 mother-baby unit inpatients)
will bring information on treatment received during pregnancy
by women who were admitted with post-partum mental health disorders
(mainly chronic psychotic disorders and affective disorders) in
118 World Psychiatry 8:S1 - February 2009