Why we went to Tokyo

Abstract

Thanks to the recent introduction of suitable tools, psychiatry is able to objectify symptoms from the very beginning of an illness. With early diagnosis it is possible to begin a therapy just as early and thus fight an illness before it has had time to do irreversible damage. Unfortunately this evident change in paradigm, from clinical care of manifest disorders to early intervention, has not brought about a reconsideration of the biological origin of mental illness; on the contrary, American psychiatry has ever more funds for research projects that focus on the biological aspects of mental disorders. Despite these clear contradictions inherent in contemporary psychiatry, the papers presented by a group psychiatrist belonging to the editorial board of “Il sogno della farfalla”at the last International Convention of the Early Psychosis Association held in Tokyo in November 2014, focused on psychopathology and on the contents of interpersonal communication, met the interest of a vast group of colleagues, particularly the European ones.