KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

An international scientific and practical conference entitled "The Mental Health of a Person: Languages of Psychiatry and Psychology" started at ASPU on October 19.

The conference brought together leading specialists from Armenia, Russia, the USA, Israel, Brazil, and Georgia. The aim was to estimate, analyze and discuss the current issues and problems in psychology and psychiatry, interaction of psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy, modern approaches to psycho-rehabilitation.

ASPU Rector, Professor Srbuhi Gevorgyan welcomed the participants and attendees of the attendees wishing everyone productive work.

The rector confessed that it was difficult [for them] to agree to holding the conference now due to the latest events in Artsakh, but the conference was very important; it was yet another opportunity not only to analyze, but also to summarize the results of the current reality. “The mental health of a person is a major problem these days. The events taking place in the world make us review the issues psychologists and psychiatrists proposed certain theses on back in the 60s. In today’s transforming society, where values are also changing, it is important to ask questions, to understand the issues of intersection of the norm, pathology, human genome and the direction of mental resources,” she said adding that with joint efforts of Armenian and foreign specialists, it will be possible to address the above-mentioned questions and to form a vector to overcome problems in crisis situations, to mobilize internal psychological resources, and to revalue them.

Professor Gevorgyan says conferences are important not only for solving problems, but also for formulating new problems from the point of view of ensuring a continuous process of innovations and achievements on the scientific platform.

Ruzan Petrosyan, Dean of the Faculty of Education Psychology and Sociology, expressed hope that the scientific event organized jointly by the Faculty and the Chair of Psychology named after Academician Mkrtich Mazmanyan will be an exceptional and extraordinary event in the scientific life of the university.

She says the priority issues in psychological science are even more emphasized against the background of the current socio-political and socio-psychological relations.

She says the conference was made real thanks to joint efforts and work of the organizers. It brought together more than 60 participants, providing them an opportunity to make decisions, discuss current problems in psychology, and find solutions that can serve the society of the future. “The international conference will also give an opportunity to summarize the results and evaluate the great work done by psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists," said Ruzan Petrosyan.

The conference participants later heard the message of Iosif Zislin, a psychiatrist and independent researcher from Israel, who expressed his regret for not being able to participate in the conference for some reasons, and quoted Narekatsi (a medieval Armenian clergyman, Christian theologian, mystic poet, musician and philosopher) in his speech.

in his report “Gödel's Theorem and the Tower of Babel Effect: in Search of Anthropological Translation by Psychology and Psychiatry,” Alexander Asmolov, Honored Professor of Moscow State University, an academician of the Russian Academy of Education, touched on the three main crises of humanity: understanding, confidence and thought. He said that today’s main fear of humanity is not death, but the fear of losing the meaning of life.

Academician Asmolov says on the one hand, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists do not understand each other, on the other hand, they cannot "live" without one another. “It is very important to understand each other, to find the way not only to human consciousness, but also to the soul, otherwise we will find ourselves in the Babylonian captivity. The purpose of the conference is unique; we must "embrace the un-embraced" and listen to each other.

In his report entitled “From the Psychology of Illness to the Psychology of Health: Positive Reorientation,” Professor Dmitry Leontiev of the National Research University of Moscow presented the theories of leading specialists in the field.

To the question: what health is and what is a norm in health, the professor said there are different opinions: statistical, social and functional approaches. In his speech, he presented the viewpoints of renowned psychologists regarding positive mental health, general approach, criteria and concept.

Vladimir Mendelevich, Professor of Kazan State Medical University, spoke about the ‘semantic emptiness’ of a number of terms used in the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Why do psychiatrists diagnose schizophrenia so easily? Why are ambiguous terms used in in diagnosis? Why are diagnostic doubts interpreted in favor of the diagnosis, rather than the patient? Professor Mendelevich says it is necessary either to rename or to develop clear diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia.

In his speech, he also dwelt on the reasons behind the overdiagnosis of schizophrenia, made a comparative analysis of cognitive distortions in the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the past and today, referred to the concept of psychopathological symptoms, etc.

Armenian and foreign psychologists addressed the issue of the integrity of the person in the ancient Bön teaching and its breakthrough in modern psychotherapy, therapeutic dialogue, inconsistencies of psychiatry and psychology, cognitive theory and terminology of psychiatry, etc.

The conference will continue on Friday, October 20.