CA27 – Current practices in the management of psychiatric patients: how does psychotherapy fit in?

Mental disorders are often framed as problems of the brain: identify the imbalance, find the biomarker, and fix the system. But what if this puts too much emphasis on the brain -and too little on the person’s environment?Despite decades of neurobiological research, brain-based findings often predict mental health less accurately than simple questionnaires. Perhaps this is because mental disorders are fundamentally different from most others: traits such as sensitivity, energy, or sociability exist on continua, and the same variation can be beneficial in one environment and disabling in another. Could mental disorder partly mean failing to find a viable “niche” in the world around us?And what benefits the patient most? Finding a biomarker? Accepting ones limitations regarding the niches we fit in ? Strengthening resilience ? Or on reducing the demands we ask humans to adapt to? This session aims to inspire us to ask the plain questions we may otherwise overlook.