DIIFSD Seminar to Discuss Mental Health Impact on Family Life

Doha, February 27 (QNA) - Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development (DIIFSD), member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, will organize a seminar on Tuesday at Qatar National Convention Centre titled "Mental Health and the Family". The seminar aims to raise awareness about the important impact of mental health on family life by showing the outcomes of the recent "Report on Mental Health," a research project funded by DIIFSD and launched in London on October 31, 2011. Dr. Samantha Callan, Chairman-in Residence at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) in the UK will detail the outcomes. Dr. Charles Johnson, Director of the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) at Texas A&M (TAMU), will highlight important research projects on disability, undertaken by PPRI in collaboration with DIIFSD. Meanwhile, Dr. Ziad Nahas, Chair of Psychiatry at the American University of Beirut (AUB), will present a research examining the latest somatic interventions, highlighting the progressive learning and adaptations that help the depressed patient reach a stable remission. The presentation will be titled: "Chronic neuromodulation for depression: What does it take to sustain recovery". In addition, Dr. Mohammad Al-Attrash, Director of Psychological Services and Family Support, Shafallah Center For Children with Special Needs, will describe the services Shafallah Center is providing to the families of children with special needs, and the programs tailored to support the families and increase awareness in the community. Nada Khawaja, a mother with a son who has special needs, will talk about "The Impact of Disability on the Family". Khawaja is well-known for her book written in French, "C est un enfant lui aussi" (He is a child too), a testimony of what she and her family went through while raising up their son. The outcomes of several DIIFSD-funded research will be presented during the seminar. (QNA)