Media Notice – Unique Conference Focuses on Depression in Adults

CALGARY, Oct. 13 – Media are invited to attend a unique conference highlighting the latest information on depression in adults including its causes, most effective treatments, and benefits to individuals and society. The conference begins at The Westin in downtown Calgary on Wednesday, October 15 and runs until Friday, October 17.The Consensus Development Conference on Depression in Adults: How to Improve Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment is set up much like a court hearing. At its conclusion a distinguished jury who has heard evidence from experts over two days generates a consensus statement or “verdict” that is then widely disseminated across the Canadian health-care system to be considered in health policy and practice.

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Dr. Felitti is one of the principal investigators of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a long-term study that tracks the current health status of 18,000 adults against adverse childhood experiences – such as physical, sexual and psychological abuse, emotional and physical neglect and a dysfunctional household – which are strongly related to problems later in life.

They underlie high rates of depression, use of antidepressants, obesity, suicide attempts, substance abuse, promiscuity, many chronic diseases and other problems.

Findings to date reveal a powerful relationship between our emotional experiences as children and our physical and mental health as adults, as well as a strong link with the major causes of adult mortality in the United States. In other words, the ACE Study documents the conversion of traumatic emotional experiences in childhood into organic disease later in life.

For further information: to obtain a conference program and speaker abstracts, or to set up interviews, please contact: Rhonda Lothammer, Institute of Health Economics, Cell: (780) 935-0382