Leo Sher, M.D.

The 8th Baltic Symposium of Biological Psychiatry, “Treatment of Substance Related Disorders: psychotherapy and medications” was held on August 30-31, 2013, in Palanga, Lithuania. The Symposium was organized under the auspices of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, the Lithuanian Society of Biological Psychiatry, and  the Research Council of Lithuania. Prof. Robertas Bunevicius, the Director of the Behavioral Medicine Institute of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, was the principal organizer of the Symposium.

About 200 clinicians and researchers attended the Symposium. Speakers were from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Netherlands, UK, USA, and Argentina. Prof. Wim van den Brink (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Prof. Jaanus Harro (Tartu, Estonia), Prof. Eduardo Keegan (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and Prof. Michael Kopelman (London, UK) were among the speakers.

Various aspects of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, treatment, and prevention of substance use disorders and dual pathology were discussed at the Symposium. A significant attention was given to the management of alcohol and opioid use disorders.

The Symposium was very well organized which was a result of an excellent work of Robertas Bunevicius, Violeta Mockeliuniene, Aurelija Podlipskyte, Dalia Stropute, Nijole Kazukauskiene, and other members of the Organizing Committee. Alicya Juskiene and Julius Burkauskas did an excellent job translating from English to Lithuanian and from Lithuanian to English.