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The 10th National  Academic  Conference  of the Chinese  Society  of  Psychiatry  was held in Nanjing from 18th - 21^st October, 2012. This conference was organized by the Chinese Medical Association and the Chinese Society of Psychiatry. The conference was attended by 2000 mental health professionals from all over China, making it one of the largest conferences globally to be held this year in the field of mental health. I "Erla Magnusdottir" was  lucky  to  attend it as a representative  from  BasicNeeds China.

As I arrived to register, I was told that they had run out of information packs and other material because the participation had exceeded their  expectations. I  took  this  as  a positive sign although it made it slightly trickier to find the sessions that I wanted to attend. Nevertheless, it was very inspiring to observe the scale of the conference with sessions  taking  place simultaneously in five  different  lecture halls.  Ten  years ago (2002),  this  very  conference  was  attended  by  only  550  people,  thus  showing  a  steep increase in participation. Also taking place at the same time was a large exhibition of pharmaceutical companies - both national  and  international, many of whom also organized  lectures  during  lunch  hours  on  their  newest  advances  in  the  field  of psychiatry. 

Topics  covered  during the  different  sessions  ranged  from  general  psychiatry, psychiatry  for  children, psychiatry for the elderly,  psychiatry  for  women,  forensic psychiatry, cross-cultural psychiatry, community mental health to psychological crisis and  on  other  related  topics.  I  was  inspired  by  the  professionals  presenting  their research  and  advocating  for  further  research  to  be  conducted  in the  field  of  mental health. I know that in the past, psychiatry has often been frowned upon by the Chinese medical field. I have had medical professionals tell me that only when a person had no other option in medical school would they choose to specialize in psychiatry. I think this is clearly changing, and the professionals presenting were proof of that. They are ambitious and great  role  models for people who  are  keen to  work  in  the  field  of mental  health.  There  is  still  a  huge  human  resource  gap  in  China  in  the  field  of mental health, but hopefully others will be inspired by the great work being done by some dynamic people already working in the field.

Although there is still a long way to go, this conference to me was further proof that there  are  positive  changes  taking  place  in  the  field  of  mental  health  in  China. BasicNeeds is committed to being part of this positive change in China in the field of mental health, and we plan to be regular attendees at this yearly conference.