Anxiety and Depression Association of America to Hold Annual Conference in Boston

ADAA 2024 Conference in Boston: Sex and Gender: Navigating the Biological and Social Constructs in Depression and Anxiety Disorder

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, February 26, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SILVER SPRING, MD. (February 26, 2024). Sex and gender. Now that we have your attention, let’s talk about mental health. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) is focusing its 2024 annual conference from April 11th to the 14th on how the mental health field can further scientific research, advance and develop more evidence-based treatments, and help support and integrate mental health care that considers the critical role that sex (e.g., sex as a biological variable; SABV) as well as the gender identity of the individual plays in presentation and treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions. This year’s conference - Sex and Gender: Navigating the Biological and Social Constructs in Depression and Anxiety Disorders - will be held at the Westin Hotel in Boston.

Conference Co-Chairs C. Neill Epperson, MD, and D. Jeffrey Newport, MD, say this year’s conference will be exciting and timely as sex and gender are often not considered in research or treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions. We know that some psychiatric disorders occur more frequently in those identified as female at birth and that others occur more frequently in those identified as male at birth. In addition, those in sex and gender minority (SGM) populations report an even greater burden of mental illness and suicide. Genetic sex, gonadal steroids, and experiences that are influenced by gender all contribute to these observations.”

“Moreover, at a time when our society is grappling with the use of hormones to affirm gender identity,” said Dr. Epperson of University of Colorado School of Medicine and Dr. Newport of Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, “science and clinical care are trying to ‘keep up’ with the evidence, constantly weighing the risks and benefits.”

What the Conference Offers

From digital and other technologies to groundbreaking new psychotherapies to psychedelics, neurostimulation, and more rapidly acting treatments, the mental health profession has seen encouraging advancements with enormous promise. But huge unknowns and obstacles still exist. ADAA’s conference will highlight what is being done in the field to continue these breathtaking innovations while developing and improving on ways to break down access and treatment barriers and end stigma for all suffering from mental illness.

These barriers are even greater for sex and gender minorities dealing with anxiety, depression, and other co-occurring disorders, as stigma and shame still prevent many from seeking or receiving the treatment they need and deserve. The conference will feature experts in the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people, women, and trauma, SGM mental healthcare disparities, and even contemporary parenting for enhancing, adapting and developing practices for parents of sexual and gender minority youth struggling with mental health disorders.

“Likewise, the conference offers lectures, interactive workshops, and roundtable discussions on a range of topics relevant to the care of patients suffering with varying mental illnesses, including substance use disorders,” Dr. Epperson said, affirming ADAA’s mission to help enhance mental health care through the alliance of science, technology, evidence-based practices, economics and socio-political considerations.

A full conference program schedule can be found here.

Who is Speaking at the Conference
ADAA’s Opening Keynote Speaker is Alex Keuroghlian, MD, MPH, the Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and director and chair of the Division of Public and Community Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Keuroghlian will open the conference on Thursday, April 11th with their keynote address Mental Healthcare for Transgender and Gender Diverse People.

Along with Dr. Keuroghlian, ADAA welcomes this year’s Ross Lecturer Jill Goldstein, MPH, PhD., Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at HMS, as well as Founder and Executive Director of the Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine at MGH. Dr. Goldstein will present the special lecture that honors the memory of Jerilyn Ross, a pioneer in the mental health field and one of ADAA’s founders. A mental health pioneer herself, Dr. Goldstein’s presentation is entitled Depression and Comorbidity with General Medicine: Discoveries and Treatment Viewed through a Sex Differences Lens.

With her presentation entitled Extracellular Vesicles Serve as Dynamic Communicators of Stress and Trauma, Tracy Bale, PhD, will give the President’s Keynote at the invitation of ADAA’s current President Helen Blair Simpson, MD, PhD.

Why the Media Should Attend the Conference
ADAA’s conference is an opportunity for the media to have direct access to over 1,200 highly regarded mental health professionals, experts and advocates who work tirelessly and relentlessly every day to ensure that access, care and treatment reach everyone who suffers.
ADDA’s multidisciplinary conference is where the discussions, presentations, critical thinking, next steps, collaboration and leadership in mental health, and in particular depression, anxiety and related disorders, come together. The knowledge, information and actions that come out of the ADAA conference need to be addressed in the media.

If a reporter or member of the press would like to interview or speak with one of the ADAA conference presenters, please contact Lise Bram prior to or during the conference at lbram@adaa.org

Lise Bram, Deputy Executive Director
Anxiety and Depression Association of America
+1 240-485-1016
lbram@adaa.org
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn