April 5-8, 2018 - Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, March 9, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Anxiety disorders affect nearly 44 million adults and one in eight children in the United States. However, only one-third of those suffering from anxiety disorders actually receive treatment, even though these disorders are highly treatable. With prolonged exposure to anxiety disorders without treatment, they begin to interfere with daily functioning and often lead to depression, substance use, suicide attempts, and other co-occurring disorders.

Depressive disorders affect about 19 million American adults. Over 50 percent of people diagnosed with depression are also co-diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Coexisting anxiety and depression account for the most disabling mental health disorders in the United States.

Some of the most pressing issues facing mental health professionals is treatment resistant anxiety and depression. Experts will discuss these and other relevant topics when they convene at the Anxiety and Depression 2018 Conference. This annual professional conference draws more than 1,400 clinicians and researchers from around the world who specialize in anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD and other related disorders. Under the theme "Treatment-Resistant Anxiety and Depression: Challenges and Opportunities," attendees will convene from April 5-April 8 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

Distinguished national and international therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and researchers will focus on the challenges facing those who treat anxiety and mood disorders, including how to improve treatment and move forward in finding cures for these disorders.

"Patients often have questions about whether they are receiving the most appropriate care for mood and anxiety disorders," says ADAA President Beth Salcedo, MD, "even though a wide range of evidence-based mental health interventions are available." Dr. Salcedo explains, "Scientific research leads to new and novel treatment approaches, so clinicians are faced with more and more information all the time. Those who attend the conference will connect face-to-face with researchers and clinicians from around the world who are disseminating cutting-edge basic and clinical research. Researches will learn from each other and collaborate and clinicians will take away a much greater sense of the variety of mental health treatment options for their patients who need help now - and in the future."

The director of the National Institute of Mental Health Joshua Gordon, MD, PhD, will be delivering the keynote address on Thursday evening. His research focuses primarily on the analyses of neural activity in mice carrying mutations of relevance to psychiatric disease. He has recently been featured in news articles sharing the significance of research milestones such as discovering anxiety cells in the brain. The Jerilyn Ross lecture will take place on Friday afternoon, to be presented by Maurizio Fava, MD, who directs the division of clinical research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute. The Conference's Saturday Plenary Session will cover the U.S. Opioid Epidemic, and will feature presenters Carlos Blanco, MD, PhD, along with Robert Schwartz, MD. In addition, this year's Conference will feature a clinical practice as well as a research symposium.

Many of the world's most experienced and knowledgeable clinicians and researchers will address other issues related to anxiety and depression, among them mindfulness, trauma, substance abuse, ketamine therapy, suicide, the opioid epidemic, the use of mental health apps, alternative therapies, telemental health, veteran-focused therapy, new and novel pharmacotherapies, selective mutism, anxious children, women's issues, and culturally sensitive therapy for minority and LGBTQ communities.

For more details on the Conference's more than 170 workshops, symposia, and roundtables, visit the ADAA website: www.adaa.org/conference.

The media will have opportunities to interview experts and attend all sessions. A complete list of sessions and new-research posters, including abstracts, is available online.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) is the leading international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the prevention, treatment, and cure of anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD and related disorders through advocacy, education, training and research. ADAA strives to improve patient care by promoting the implementation of evidence-based treatments, best practices and research across disciplines through continuing education and trainings and accelerating dissemination of research into practice. Visit www.adaa.org to learn more.

Lise Bram
ADAA
240-485-1016
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