The College Theme 2013: Youth Mental Health

The College of Psychiatrists has many commitments in training, professional competence and public awareness. A considerable amount of work is achieved annually through its faculties and committees. The College Council has chosen to focus some of that work on a particular theme within mental health services. For 2012, that theme was Homelessness and Mental Illness and for 2013 the theme is Youth Mental Health. Dr Helen Coughlan, Clinical Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, RCSI, Dublin presented her paper – Youth Mental Health: Making the Vision a Reality in Ireland – a paper to launch the 2013 theme at the College’s AGM in January.

The aim of having a theme is to improve members’ awareness of the topic, to encourage greater collaborative working between the different faculties and committees, and to use members’ expertise in order to bring about effective changes within the mental health services. Youth Mental Health Theme is being led by the Child and Adolescent Faculty, who are supported by the work of the Special Interest Group on Youth Mental Health.

All faculties and committees within the College are encouraged to take part in activities and papers throughout the year. As we close this year, below is a list of other activities run by the college to highlight Youth Mental Health throughout 2013. We hope to launch the official College position paper on the theme in December 2013/ early 2014. We are also pleased to announce Theme 2014, “Caring for Carers”.