DSN presents symposium on the role of peer groups in physician health at WPA Berlin 2017
- by Louise Freeman
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- 14 Oct, 2017
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DSN presented a symposium with Selbst betroffene Profis on the role of peer support groups in health professionals' health at the World Psychiatry Association Congress 2017 in Berlin
The initial suggestion for this collaboration came from Dr Astrid Freisen of Selbst betroffene Profis
- a group for health professionals with bipolar which is associated with the German bipolar society Deutsche Gesellschaft für Bipolare Störungen. Astrid contacted DSN by email and suggested that we propose a joint symposium for the World Psychiatry Association Congress due to be held in Berlin from 8-12th October 2017. Bearing in mind that our discussion was entirely carried out online and that we did not meet in person until the day before the symposium, our arrangements including agreeing the symposium titles, content and abstract were extremely practical and straightforwards.
We proposed a symposium of three talks with the overall title:
We proposed a symposium of three talks with the overall title:
Doctors with mental health disorders – an overview and introduction of UK and German peer support groups for doctors and other health workers
- Dr Louise Freeman, DSN vice chair, gave a general background to the topic of physician health : Invisible patients : doctors with mental health problems
- Dr Angelika Luehrs, DSN chair, presented a history of the founding of DSN and its activities over the past two decades: The Doctors’ Support Network in the UK : peer support for doctors with mental health problems over two decades
- Dr Astrid Freisen explained the history of the Selbst betroffene Profis group in Germany: The German Situation - a short overview about the development of the support and interest group "Selbst betroffene Profis" (self-affected professionals) providing support for doctors with mental health problems
The symposium itself was very well attended by approximately eighty delegates with literally standing room only. The audience listened attentively and contributed to a lengthy debate on physician health which was only terminated by the next occupants of the room arriving. Delegates from Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Switzerland, to mention only a few participants, spoke about the physician health situation in their home countries.
Dr Astrid Freisen - Gedanken zum Weltkongress - see English translation below)
'Der Weltkongress hat mich mit seiner Vielzahl an Themen und seinen mehr als 11.000 internationalen Teilnehmern sehr beeindruckt. Ich fand es toll, dass sich diese Internationalität auch in den Teilnehmern unseres Symposiums widerspiegelte: diese kamen u.a. aus Südafrika, Brasilien, Australien, der Schweiz oder Neuseeland. V.a. in der Abschlussdiskussion wurde noch einmal deutlich, dass es zu wenig Angebote für psychisch kranke Ärzte gibt, egal ob es um Selbsthilfeorganisationen oder strukturierte staatliche Programme geht.
Ein weiterer Höhepunkt war es, Angelika und Louise nach mehr als 12 Monaten Kontakt per Email endlich persönlich kennen zu lernen. Die Zusammenarbeit verlief toll und ich hoffe, dass wir das wiederholen können.'
(English translation : Thoughts about the World Congress
I found the world congress with its variety of topics and over 11,000 international delegates very impressive.
I thought it was great that this was reflected in the delegates attending our symposium: we had attendees for example from South Africa, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand. Particularly the discussion after the presentations highlighted again that there are not enough opportunities, neither self help groups nor structured national programmes, available for doctors with mental health problems.
Another highlight was to meet Angelika and Louise in person after more than twelve months of contact via emails. The joint working was great and I hope that we will be able to work jointly together in the future.)
Dr Angelika Luehrs, DSN chair said
'Being invited to talk together with Selbsbetroffene Profis from Germany at the WPA 2017 was both an honour and a great opportunity for DSN.DSN has always been keen to be open about doctors with mental health problems but so far mainly on a national level and as a lone organisation representing affected doctors. Therefore being able to speak out together with another group representing doctors and across countries has been a unique opportunity. Talking together with Selbstbetroffene Profis created a unique and powerful message. The symposium was very well attended and led to a lively and interesting discussion involving professionals from all over the world. It was an encouraging and inspiring experience.'
DSN is very grateful to the organising committee of the WPA Congress 2017 for giving us this amazing opportunity to forge links with doctors from around the world. The conference facilitated user group participation by charging a nominal delegate fee as well as reimbursing our travel costs.
P.S. Some sightseeing was also done!
Dr Louise Freeman addresses barriers to access to work faced by medics with mental ill health needing reasonable adjustments.
Dr Louise Freeman is the co-chair of the Doctors' Support Network. Here, she talks about why prioritising your own health can feel difficult in times of crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Serena Haywood on talking about her experience of mental ill health: 'The fear and isolation ... led me to take the risky decision to start talking about my mental health as much as I could to as many people as would listen. I was advised not to but did it anyway. And my life changed from there.'
Psychologist Caroline Elton discusses the difficult issue of talking about our own mental ill health. 'I don’t want to collude with the fantasy that depression, or any other mental illness, only happens to other people. It has certainly happened to me. '
CLANGERS, keeping well for medics, specialist support and creativity were all on the programme at our recent conference in Bristol.
Dr Cathy Wield discusses how and when to talk about our recovery from mental ill health.
DSN co-chairs, Dr Louise Freeman and Dr Angelika Luehrs, discuss how and why we are talking about our own mental health as doctors, including an explanation of our AndMe anti stigma campaign with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' Mind Matters Initiative.
Dr Cathy Wield discusses how we often shy away from naming physician mental health by using the term 'physician health'.
BBC Radio Five Live discussion about Prof. Steve Robson's article recounting his experience of attempting suicide as a trainee doctor with comment from his colleague Dr Kate Tree and an interview with Dr Laura McGregor, consultant in emergency medicine
Clare Gerada: ' We can't keep photographing the problem (physician health) - we need to do something about it.'
