Psychiatrist Eduard Vieta has warned in the UV on Friday that some aspects “of our lifestyle today influence us towards mental disorders”. Vieta has been invested as new honorary doctor and has stated that the best cure for the patient is to combine teamwork, teaching and research. In the event it has also been recognised his long research career, his college experience and UV’s retired personnel.
The event had the presence of autonomous deputy subsecretary Josep Joan Vidal (Education) and Ricardo Campos (Health), together with an extensive representation of the university community.
During his ‘lectio’, the new honorary doctor has explained his long-term relationship with the UV. Among other things, he has reminded: “When I started being interested by bipolar disorder, this unusual illness which causes human beings’ autoperception to alternate from periods of depression to periods of elevated mood, I discovered the figure of UV’s full university professor Andrés Piquer i Arrufat, born in Fórnols de Matarranya in 1711. He named this illness ‘affectio melancholico-maniaca’ a hundred years before Falret and Baillarger described it as a specific mental disorder”.
In Vieta’s opinion, “Psychiatry is still viewed with certain caution and mistrust causing many patients to only consult professionals when their disease is advanced. New psychiatry shall emphasize prevention. There are reasons for thinking that some aspects of our lifestyle today influence us towards suffering mental disorders. Together with obesity, hypertension and diabetes, depressive and anxiety disorders proliferate alarmingly and it is estimated that in 2020, they will be the first cause of global disability”. He has added: “it is clear that diet rich in fat, sugars and salt, as well as inactivity, are an important part of risk factors. So they are for other mental disorders, together with the highly social competitiveness and the unnatural environment which humans have created in many parts of the earth”.
Full ‘lectio’ can be read here.
UV’s full university professor Rafael Tabares-Seisdedos read the ‘laudatio’.
In his speech, Principal Esteban Morcillo, referred to some of Eduard Vieta’s ethical concerns, such as the access to medication in developing countries. Principal has reminded that: “Our university is committed and occupies one of the first positions in cooperation. Because contributing to progress and human, material and country development is in the UV’s Constitution, agreed by the university community. Contributing to progress in a context of scarce resources. Resource allocation in the field of health has been highlighted by doctor Vieta as one of the challenges for the coming years”.
Esteban Morcillo has warned: “This is a time when resources are scarce, and in which politics of fiscal consolidation have driven talented young people to migrate committed to our research and development system, and that have weakened the future of our leading lines of research”. He has concluded his speech pointing out the claim expressed by UV’s governing body regarding “a change in these politics and the articulation of an agreements on education that reaches every levels of education, together with a scientific and research politic which allow us to achieve new milestones in research, a new vector for development.”
Principal’s full speech can be read here.
Eduard Vieta Pascual (Barcelona, 1963) is a professor of Psychiatrist and Psychobiology in the Universitat de Barcelona, head of the Psyquiatry and Psychology in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and scientific deputy of the Mental Health Biomedical Research Center (CIBERSAM).
He graduated in Medicine at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and received his PhD with honors in Medicine and Surgery at Universitat de Barcelona. He has also been visiting professor at Harvard University and advisor of the EU presidency in neurosciencies.
His research, published in more than 600 scientific articles and 32 books, has focused on the causes and pharmacological and psycho-biological treatment of bipolar disorders.
Doctor Vieta’s work has been abundantly awarded, among them the Colvin Price and Mogens Schou Awards. He is also included on the ‘most influential scientific minds’ list elaborated by Thompson Reuters.
Last update: 17 de june de 2016 14:00.
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