Thank you for a successful Women's Mental Health Symposium

Thank you for a successful 13th Annual Women's Mental Health Symposium
Integrating a Pediatric Focus

Friday, May 9, 2014

Westin La Paloma
Tucson, AZ

Presented by
Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine
in the Arizona Health Sciences Center

In collaboration with
Arizona Nurses Association
Arizona Psychological Association
Arizona Psychiatric Society

The mission of the Women’s Mental Health Symposium is to provide education to all who are interested in compelling and diverse mental health topics specific to women. The target audience is physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, psychologists, social workers, counselors, school administrators and staff, and interested community.  

With over 275 participants in attendance, this is the longest running women's mental health symposium in the country.  The syposium is made possible through the generous, longstanding support of the David and Lura Lovell Foundation.

"Depressive disorders are among the most common medical conditions in the U.S.  Women are more often affected than men.  And because of the nature of depression, the patient is not the only one to suffer.  There is robust evidence that a depressed parent affects the entire family.  And because women are often the parent most deeply involved with small children, depression's ripple effects are of particular concern for all of us who want to ensure that kids grow up healthy,"  states Ole J. Thienhaus, MD, MBA, Professor and Chair, UA College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.  

Expert presenters stated that depression is one of the greatest health burdens in the world. 

"It's somewhere between number 2 and number 5 in terms of overall health costs, and in women in the United States, it's really becoming number 1,"  said Dr. Charles Raison, renowned mind-body expert medical researcher and mental health expert for CNNHealth, is with the UA College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

Research has shown that there is a link between women who are depressed, even during pregnancy, and the problems their children may experience.  The syposium integrated a pediatric focus this year and was held in conjunction with the National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, May 8, which "seeks to raise awareness about the importance of children's mental health and that positive mental health is essential to a child's healthy development from birth." 

"If kids then develop and have more problems with irritability or more academic problems or behavioral problems or learning how to have healthy relationships, then that has not only consequences for the child, but also for the family,"  said Dr. Kathy Smith with the UA College of Medicine at South Campus, Child and Adolescent Psychiatriatry.

As research continues, experts at the symposium said women need to be aware that depression is treatable now.

Dr. Marlene Freeman of Massachusetts General states, "It's really important that women understand that if they're taking good care of themselves, they're taking good care of their families." 

To view the entire news broadcast and article, click here.

Release Date: 
02/20/2014 - 4:58pm