Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
3h ago

Catalan Mental Health Congress Opens in Barcelona With Focus on Creativity and Community Care

The event highlights a push for evidence‑backed, non‑pharmacological care with greater patient autonomy.

Josep Tristany, director del Pla Director de Salut Mental i Addiccions, en el 8è Congrés Català de Salut Mental
"Un antidepresivo puede alterar el estado de ánimo, pero esto no explica el origen de la depresión y muchas veces es contraproducente"

Overview

  • Running Nov. 13–14 at the Col·legi de Metges de Barcelona and Teatre de Sarrià, the eighth edition marks the Fundació CCSM’s 25th year and features roughly 50 speakers.
  • In opening remarks, Catalonia’s mental health director Josep Tristany warned against medicalizing everyday distress and endorsed community, intersectoral approaches that include culture.
  • CCSM president Josep Vilajoana emphasized patients’ rights to accept or refuse medication or hospitalization and urged funding to measure outcomes of arts‑based treatments.
  • Sessions present local initiatives such as Dansateràpia for survivors of gender‑based violence and hospital music therapy with experts including Pau Gimeno Ortuño and Núria Escudé.
  • Organizers and participants critiqued Spain’s heavy use of psychotropics, noting high benzodiazepine consumption and long‑standing pharmaceutical influence on psychiatric practice.