The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) is holding its 55th annual conference, ANCIPS 2003, at Shilpa Kala Vedika in Hyderabad from January 9 to 12. The conference, jointly organised by IPS, the British Indian Psychiatric Association (BIPA) and the Indo-American Psychiatric Association (IATA), will be attended by about 2,500 psychiatrists, 300 of them from abroad. The theme for this year's conference is “Mental Health Movement Towards Violence Prevention.”

According to Dr P Raghurami Reddy, Organising Chairman, the conference was being held in Hyderabad after a gap of 32 years. He said the conference would be the biggest ever in the history of IPS or may be even in medical history in the country. Besides, the large number of delegates, a record number of 350 papers on various topics would be presented at the conference.

Dr Reddy said the theme of the conference, Mental Health Movement Towards Violence Prevention, was more relevant today than ever before. The country was suffering from various kinds of violence and the people were looking towards psychiatrists for a solution to this cult of violence, he said.

Dr Reddy said that genetic factors and the training that children received at home played a major role in their violent behaviour in adolescence and adulthood. There were medicines and counselling to check such violent behaviour and the aim of the conference was to create awareness among the people that remedies to such problems could be had from psychiatrists.

The conference, he said, would help the delegates to storm their brains for developing newer medicines and better psychological therapies to create a great mental health movement towards a peaceful, humane world where there would be no violence and threat to life.

Violence was the culmination of anger, which again was an offshoot of frustration resulting in personality disorder. The Association would soon start a telephone service in Hyderabad to offer free counselling to the people on specified dates on their problems, Dr Reddy said.

The keynote address will be delivered by Dr Applebaum, President of the American Psychiatric Association. Eminent speakers from the US and UK will present papers during the four-day conference which will be inaugurated by Ashok A Desai, Chief Justice of Uttaranchal. Home Minister Devender Goud will be the chief guest. Several delegates from the SAARC countries will be attending the conference.