Prevention in Mental Health

Marco Colizzi is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Udine. He received a PhD in Neuroscience from the King’s College London where he investigated the environmental and genetic risk factors as well as the neurochemical and neurophysiological mechanisms leading to the manifestation of severe psychiatric symptoms. At the beginning of his scientific career, his work was predominantly focused on the neuropsychopharmacology and neurocognitive function of psychosis, with a special interest into the role of cannabinoids. More recently, his clinical research activity has been focusing on the implementation of psychosocial and psychopharmacological preventive strategies throughout the neurodevelopmental stages of life, with the final goal of positively modifying the course of psychiatric disorders among youth populations. His scientific work has been awarded by a number of national and international institutions.Mirella Ruggeri is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Verona. She is also the Director of the University Hospital Institute of Psychiatry, of the South Verona Community – based Mental Health Service and of the Specialization School in Psychiatry. Due to her long-lasting expertise in psychiatry epidemiology, she has been recently appointed President of the International Federation of Psychiatry Epidemiology. Over the years, she has oriented her research activity into the risk factors increasing vulnerability for severe mental disorders, by leading multicentre trials in patients who have experienced a first episode of severe psychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, she has investigated the effect of multi-element psychosocial interventions in improving severe mental disorder outcome. Recently, she has been taking her research activity one step further, by focusing into preventive strategies that may positively change the trajectory and outcome of such disorders

• Part 1. General aspects and paradigms.- 1. Gender and mental health prevention: when differences matter.- 2. Clinical staging of psychiatric disorders: its utility in mental health prevention.- 3. The Role of Psychopharmacology in Mental Health Prevention.- Part 2. Areas for intervention and improvement.- 4. Postpartum (Puerperal) Psychosis: Risk factors, Diagnosis, Management and Treatment.- 5. Childhood trauma and mental health: never too early to intervene.- 6. Promoting positive parenting to prevent mental health problems.- 7. Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Psychosocial Issues Later in Life.- 8. Migration and mental health: from vulnerability to resilience.- 9. Tackling Urbanicity and Pollution in Mental Health Prevention Strategies.- 10. Is there room for anti-stigma interventions in mental health preventive programs?.- 11. Combined prevention for substance use and mental health problems in youth: A glance at two conditions at high-risk for addiction.- 12. Enhancing cognition inpeople with mental health vulnerabilities.- 13. Targeting metabolic abnormalities in mental health prevention strategies.- 14. Imaging in Psychiatry: a reappraisal of preventative potential.- 15. Functional neurological symptoms: a potential sentinel of neurological and mental health disorders.- Part 3. Future perspectives.- 16. Unmet therapeutic needs in psychotic illness: the gut-microbiome-endocannabinoid axis as a target for the development of new preventative strategies.- 17. Prodromal dementias with Lewy bodies: a paradigm for identifying people at ultra-high risk.- 18. Neglected vulnerabilities in mental health: where do we need to do more