Overview

Most clinicians working in the mental health field are very familiar with common mental disorders including schizophrenia, depression and anxiety. Most of us are however less familiar with the various psychotropic drugs used in clinical practice. Over recent years we have seen a bewildering increase in the variety and numbers of psychotropic medications used to treat mental disorders, each with its own optimal use case, side effect profile and data supporting its safe use.

In this webinar I intend to provide attendees with a broad overview of the key medication groups encountered in clinical practice in Australia, with a focus on the safe use of such medications, and a good appreciation of key factors that all prescribers and other involved mental health clinicians need to be aware of in supporting and caring for individuals living with mental ill health.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should:

• Be able to identify psychiatric disorders commonly encountered in clinical practice
• Understand the various groups of psychotropic drugs used to treat common psychiatric disorders
• Know when to consider biological treatment and how best to facilitate this
• Understand key issues around voluntary and involuntary treatment including consent and the management of common adverse side eIects
• Understand how psychiatrists navigate medication initiation, maintenance and optimisation and how to manage medication cessation/withdrawal safely
• Better appreciate treatment decisions for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers

Presenter(s)

Dr. David Thomas

About the presenter(s)

David Thomas is a psychiatrist with the Victorian Institute for Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) and Hon Research Fellow with the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology. He has over 30 years of medical practice, undertook his postgraduate training in Psychiatry in London and has worked as a consultant since 2001. Right through his consultant career he has maintained a keen interest in the safe use of medications and chaired Drugs and Therapeutics Committees for two large NHS Trusts in London. Following his move to Australia in 2017, he chaired Forensicare’s Medication Safety Committee for 4 years. He currently works in the Community Forensic Mental Health Service and the Community Forensic Disability Mental Health Service (Glaser Clinic) and runs a thriving private medicolegal practice.

Notes

Registration includes access to the presentation slides.

Target Audience

This event is aimed at forensic psychologists and mental health professionals more broadly.

Duration of Access

This event will not be recorded.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.