Leo Sher, M.D.

The “II International Congress on Dual Disorders: Addictive Behaviours and other Mental Disorders” (Barcelona, Spain, October 5-8, 2011) was attended by about 1600 participants and featured hundreds of presenters from 60 countries, including Spain, United States, Hungary, Norway, Canada, Italy, France, Colombia, Austria, New Zealand, Israel, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Iran, Slovak Republic, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, Lithuania, Mexico, India, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Netherlands, Australia, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sweden, Morocco, and Azerbaijan.

The Congress program consisted of plenary sessions, symposia, workshops, meetings with the expert, educational update sessions, oral communications, and posters. Dr. Nora Volkow, the Director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse gave the Plenary Lecture, “The brain and dual diagnosis” that was met with great interest by the Congress participants. There were two truly interesting round-table discussions: “Rethinking the dual diagnosis” and “The self-medication hypothesis.” Prof. Miguel Casas (Spain), Dr. Nestor Szerman (Spain), Dr. José Martínez-Raga (Spain), Dr. Carlos Roncero (Spain), Prof. Pedro Ruiz (USA), Dr. Nora Volkow (USA), Prof. Thomas Kosten (USA), Prof. Alan I. Green (USA), Prof. Roger Weiss (USA), Prof. Nady el-Guebaly (Canada), Prof. Gabriele Fischer (Austria), Prof. Leo Sher (USA), and other Congress participants have contributed to these exciting round table discussions.

Many scientific and clinical issues such as chronobiological aspects in dual pathology, associations between PTSD symptoms and stimulant use, genetics and biological markers in addiction and dual diagnosis, psychotherapy in patients with dual diagnosis, dual diagnosis in DSM-5 and ICD-11, benzodiazepine abuse in patients with severe mental disorders, and integrated treatment for patients with personality disorders and addiction have been discussed at the Congress. An attention-grabbing workshop, “Strategies for preventing, diagnosing, and treating dual pathology in health care professionals” was presented by Drs. M. Dolores Braquehais Conesa and Miquel Jordi Bel Aguado.

The symposium, “Substance use disorders and suicide” was held on the October 7th. The symposium was chaired by Leo Sher, M.D. (USA) and co-chaired by M. Dolores Braquehais Conesa, M.D., Ph.D. (Spain). Leo Sher, M.D., M. Dolores Braquehais Conesa, M.D., Ph.D., Zoltan Rihmer, M.D., Ph.D. (Hungary), and Brit Haver, M.D., Ph.D. (Norway) gave talks at the symposium. All four lectures were met with a significant interest and the speakers were asked many questions. M. Dolores Braquehais Conesa, M.D., Ph.D., Zoltan Rihmer, M.D., Ph.D., and Brit Haver, M.D., Ph.D. are Distinguished Guests of our website, www.internetandpsychiatry.com (please, see the “Distinguished Guests” section of our website). The oral session, “Self-medication, resource management, suicide” chaired by Dr. José Miguel Zoido Ramos, was held on the same day, October 7. Leo Sher, M.D. and Zoltan Rihmer, M.D., Ph.D. were among the speakers of this session.

The Congress social program included a visit to the CosmoCaixa, a science museum that was opened in 2005 and is one of the largest museums in Spain, and other interesting events.

…On the day of my departure from Barcelona, a security person in the Barcelona airport asked me, “Were you here for business or for pleasure?” I said, “For business.” He smiled and replied, “Wrong answer. To come here is always a pleasure!” He was right…

The photos were taken by the author of this report.

Please, read Part I of this report.