Partnership for mental health: the 12th World Congress of Psychiatry.
Authors: Juan José López-Ibor
Journal: World Psychiatry (2002)

The succession of the themes and main contributions of World Congresses of Psychiatry reflects a continuous trend in the development of the WPA and of psychiatry itself. The first World Congress (Paris, 1950) was the consequence of an effort to bring together different traditions of psychiatry torn apart by the Second World War and the events which led to it. The next World Congresses (Zurich, 1957; Montreal, 1961; Madrid, 1966) were the expression of the trend to unify different schools of thought in psychiatry. The four next ones (Mexico City, 1972; Hawaii, 1977; Vienna, 1983; Athens, 1989) belong to the hardest period of the Association, faced with human right issues and with the abuse of psychiatry for political purposes in a cold war confrontation. The WPA came out of this period highly mature and strongly consolidated. The Congress in Rio de Janeiro (1993) was the opportunity to expand educational activities and to increase the importance of Latin American psychiatry in world psychiatry.  World, One Language was the motto of the 1996 World Congress in Madrid, which took advantage of the developments of nosology and the worldwide acceptance of a common language for diagnosis. In the Hamburg Congress (1999), the presence of non-psychiatric organizations was extremely significant. Psychiatry opened its  to other scientists and professionals, to consumers, to politicians, to the media. New strategies were implemented in a profound manner. The educational program to fight the stigma of schizophrenia became an institutional program of the WPA, and its motto Schizophrenia: open the doors became the new principle of the Association and the expression of new goals for psychiatry and new roles for psychiatrists.

Yokohama 2002 will be the first World Congress of Psychiatry in Asia. Following the trends briefly mentioned, a logical theme was Partnership for mental  Two messages are included in it. The first is partnership. Today it is impossible to advance alone. Once a common language for psychiatry exists, there is a need of building partnership between science and practice, between East and West, North and South, developing and developed countries, because even in developed countries there are population groups with lack of opportunities or resources.

Furthermore, partnership should be increased among all parties concerned with mental diseases. At the end, as mental diseases are everywhere, to designate a limited number of partners is a way of isolating and stigmatizing those who suffer from them, their relatives and those caring for them.

The world is becoming increasingly complicated and difficult, but also provides increasing opportunities. One of them is the deep emerging change in the relationships between citizens and their governments. In a smooth movement, a new social contract, to use Rousseaus words, is being born. The mutual responsibilities of individuals and the political administration are changing. These changes are parallel to those we are witnessing in our profession. Informed consent is not a medical issue, it is part of modern cultures. The emphasis on individual rights, autonomy and equity of the Madrid Declaration is not a psychiatric concern, it is the new expression of the emphasis that modern world gives, or should give, to human dignity.

The second message is mental health. Psychiatry cannot exist without a deep commitment to mental health. Psychiatry cannot continue to fight against adverse social conditions or phenomena which help to appear, sustain or aggravate mental diseases. It should advocate, with scientific evidence, for changes in the environment. This is a well known fact, and in the past psychiatry has tried to go along this line. Unfortunately very often with a wrong strategy: to fall into political temptations enhances a certain sense of omnipotence sometimes present in psychiatrists. Today, the right strategy requests that psychiatry build partnerships in order to make the world change, and to give better opportunities to those who suffer from mental diseases or are vulnerable to them.

Again, a World Congress of Psychiatry is going to be a milestone in the development of our profession and of the WPA. At this point, we have to thank all of the partners who share the goals and the responsibilities of promoting mental health and a better life for those who suffer from mental diseases.