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Joseba
Achotegui Loizate, M.D., Ph.D.
Spain
I was born in Bilbao
in 1952, in the Basque country of Spain. I was educated at Jesuit
primary and secondary schools. I studied medicine at the University of
Barcelona, where I obtained the title of specialist in psychiatry, with
top honours. In 1990, I obtained my doctorate, cum laude, in Medicine at
the University of the Basque Region. My thesis was titled
"Comparative analysis of the ego concept in the works of Melanie
Klein and Heinz Hartmann".
During my training in
transcultural psychiatry I have been influenced by Dr. Jordi Font and
Dr. Jorge Tizón, two psychiatrists who, in the1980s, showed great
sensitivity to this subject, that was extremely undervalued in Spain at
that time. Dr Font's work on the mental health of Spaniards emigrating
to Germany was particularly notable. Dr. Tizón, carried out important
research on immigrants moving from the south of Spain to Catalonia. Drs
Tizon and Font founded the CIPP ( Pyschopathological and Psychosocial
Research Group), in which I received training and worked. CIPP was the
predecessor of SAPPIR, where I am currently working.
I would also
highlight the training I received from Doctors León and Rebeca Grinberg,
who immigrated to Spain from Argentina at the end of the 1970s;
particularly for their contributions to grief related to migration. I
also have been strongly influenced by the training experiences I had at
the Minkowska Centre in Paris, during the late 1980s, and with which I
have maintained close contact ever since.
In 1991, I was
appointed Professor of Psychotherapy at the University of Barcelona. I
have continued in this position ever since.
I have basically done
clinical work and conducted research in the area of migration and mental
health.
During my career as a
cultural psychiatrist, I have been fortunate to work in collaboration
with the psychiatrist Dr. Dori Espeso, whose expertise is with immigrant
minors, and with the social worker Nuria Pellejero, who has in-depth
knowledge of the social problems related to migration, and Dr. Anna
Tuset, a psychologist expert in transcultural assessment.
- since 1982, I have
been a member of the CIPP (Psychopathological and Psychosociological
Research Group) of the Vidal and Barraquer Foundation in Barcelona,
specialising in migration and mental health. In 1987, this group
obtained a research award from the Spanish Neuropsychiatry Society for
the project; "Migration and Mental Health". The study was
subsequently published in 1993, by the University of Barcelona Press,
under this same title. - in 1994 I founded and, since then, have been
the director, of SAPPIR (Psychopathological and Psychosocial Assistance
Service for Immigrants and Refugees) at the Hospital Sant Pere Claver,
in Barcelona. - in 1997 I was given the Solidarity Award by the Catalan
Regional Parliament, for my work with immigrants. - since 197I have been
the director of the post-graduate course "Mental health and
psychological interventions with immigrants, refugees and minority
groups" at the University of Barcelona. - from 1998 through 2004 I
have been advisor on issues regarding migration and family regrouping
for the European Parliamentary Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and
Rights - I am the coordinator of the international task force on
"The Ulysses Syndrome", sponsored by the European
Parliamentary Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights
I am grateful to the
administration of the Sant Pere Claver Hospital, in which SAPPIR is
located, in the port area of Barcelona. SAPPIR was created specifically
to deal with the mental health problems of the immigrant population and
with those who are socially excluded, and has always supported our work
with these populations.
My work in the area
of migration and mental health has led to my publishing a book titled,
Depression in Immigrants: a trans-cultural viewpoint . Ediciones Mayo,
Barcelona. 2002. This book describes "the Ulysses Syndrome"
for the first time. I have also been editor of Anxiety and Depression in
Immigrants, published in 2003 by Ediciones Mayo, Barcelona, and, Chronic
Stress: clinical and therapeutic aspects; Ediciones Mayo (in press).
The Ulysses Syndrome
The concept of the
Ulysses Syndrome, that I first described in 2002, has led to the
following works since its publication in the book Depression in
Immigrants:
- the novel "the
Ulysses Syndrome" by Santiago Gamboa, regarding the suffering of
South American immigrants in Paris. Publisher: Seix Barral, 2005. - a
book of poetry "Ulysses Syndrome" by Arsenio Rodríguez
Quintana, a Cuban poet, published in 2004. - two plays titled
"Ulysses Syndrome" - one in Spain and the other in Mexico, in
2005 - an art exhibition in Barcelona in May 2006
I have been a member
and an active participant in the conferences of both WPA-TPS and WACP;
including presentations at the conferences in Vienna in Apr 2006, the
first World congress of Psychiatry, in Beijing, in Sep 2006, and the
jointly-sponsored conference in Kamakura in Apr 2007.
July 5, 2007
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