Kerala - Kozhikode   

Focus on new treatment drugs

Staff Reporter

Three-day psychiatry conference from Friday

KOZHIKODE: The 38th annual conference of the South Zone unit of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) `IPSOCON 2005' will be organised at Kadavu Resorts here from Friday to Sunday.

Around 500 psychiatrists from across South India will attend the conference, being jointly hosted by the Kannur and Calicut Guilds of Psychiatry.

The three-day conference involves discussions on new drugs that have revolutionised psychiatric treatment during the past few years. The conference will also focus on the high rate of suicide among youth in the country, especially in Kerala.

Lakshmi Vijayakumar of Chennai, an authority on suicidology, will present the paper `Social diagnostic autopsy of suicides' at the conference at 12.30 p.m. on Saturday, organising committee chairman V.V. Mohan Chandran and secretary K. Sivaramakrishnan told reporters here on Thursday. Dr. Lakshmi will speak on suicide prevention strategies.

Kerala topped the list of States with the most number of suicides in the country. "The number may be even more. Cases of attempted suicide are not reported," Dr. Chandran and Dr. Sivaramakrishnan said.

Wayanad and Idukki districts recorded higher rates of suicide than other districts in the State.

Responding to questions, they said globalisation was one of the factors for the increase in number of suicides. The desires of the people were increasing but the rate of frustration too was high, leading to suicides.

B.M. Hegde, Professor Emeritus, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, will inaugurate the conference at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Minister for Public Works M.K. Muneer will release the conference souvenir on the occasion.

N.R. Arun Kishore, president, Kerala State branch of IPS, will present the paper `Cultural variation in psychopharmacology' at 10.30 a.m. on Friday, to be followed by a debate on the `advaitha' of psychosis `Is Emil Kraepelin right?'

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