[SydPhil] MIRC Public Lecture: Studying Mental Health Problems as Systems, Not Syndromes

[Minds and Intelligences Research Centre]

Dear all,
The Macquarie Minds and Intelligences Research Centre would like to invite you to the next public lecture.

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When: Tuesday, December 2nd at 12pm.
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Where: 17WW-G25 Lecture Theatre, Macquarie University (In-person event)

We are delighted to have Dr Eiko Fried from Leiden University present the following:

Studying Mental Health Problems as Systems, Not Syndromes
Abstract: Progress in understanding and treating mental health problems remains disappointing. I discuss two barriers that have contributed to a problematic oversimplification of mental illness. The first is diagnostic literalism, mistaking mental health problems for the diagnoses by which they are classified. The second is reductionism, the isolated study of individual elements of mental disorders. I propose conceptualizing people’s mental health states as outcomes emerging from complex systems of biological, psychological, and social elements, and show that this system's perspective helps us understand diagnoses and reductionism as useful epistemological tools for describing the world, rather than ontological convictions about how the world is. It provides new lenses through which to study mental illness, and new levers to treat them. Embracing the complexity of mental health problems requires opening our ivory towers to theories and methods from other fields with rich traditions, including network and systems sciences.

Bio: Eiko Fried obtained his PhD in clinical psychology at the Free University of Berlin, followed by four years of postdoctoral training in methodology in Belgium and the Netherlands. He now works as Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at Leiden University. Eiko's research takes place at the intersection of mental health science and methodology, and his interests are how to best measure, predict, and understand mental health problems. His lab is currently focused on developing a personalised early warning system for depression<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/trHNCYW8NocpOor1XC0f6Cx_4TW?domain=warn-d.eiko-fried.com>. Eiko loves burnt coffee and fast computers, and you can find his blog, publications and data online<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ZS_1CZY1Nqi82nJ4YsjhlCBdnLT?domain=eiko-fried.com>.