APA Annual Meeting Closes

The American Psychiatric Association's 163rd Annual Meeting brought more than 11,000 psychiatrists from around the world to New Orleans for five days of scientific program, including courses, new research and updates on the development of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The meeting included a special addiction track with research and programs by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"Pride & Promise: Toward A New Psychiatry" was the theme of the 2010 meeting, which carried out one of APA President Alan F. Schatzberg's primary goals for the year - to bring top scientists to the APA meeting.

"With the science of psychiatry advancing so rapidly, we believed it was important to bring cutting-edge science to the APA meeting, and by all accounts we were successful," Dr. Schatzberg said. "The most common complaint we heard from attendees that there were too many excellent sessions to attend them all."

At the close of the meeting on Wednesday, May 26, Carol A. Bernstein, M.D., officially took office as APA president, leading a new board of trustees, and John Oldham, M.D., became president-elect, as Dr. Schatzberg concluded his presidential term.

The DSM-5 track included interactive sessions that allowed participants to provide feedback on language being considered for new and changing disorders, and each of the 13 DSM-5 work groups provided updates during a series of workshops.