Age of Onset of Mental Disorders

Giovanni de Girolamo, M.D., leads the Psychiatric Epidemiology and Evaluation Unit at the IRCCS St. John of God Clinical Research Centre, Brescia (Italy), and is a Professor at the Faculty of Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan (Italy). From 1988 to 1994 he was an Associate Professional Officer at the Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva; after his return to Italy, he has worked at the Italian N.I.H. in Rome and at the Department of Mental Health in Bologna. He has been a principal investigator for a range of studies covering  a variety of mental health areas, and has been the PI of the Italian site participating to the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. He is currently the principal investigator for the Italian site of the European projects “THE MILESTONE PROJECT: Managing the Link and Strengthening Transition from Child to Adult Mental Health Care” and RADAR-CNS. Prof. de Girolamo has published more than 250 papers and authored or co-authored several books and book chapters. Norman Sartorius was the Director of the Division of Mental Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) and subsequently President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and then  President of the Association of European Psychiatrists). He is currently President of the Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programmes and a member of the Geneva Prize Foundation, having previously been its President. Professor Sartorius was professor of psychiatry at the University of Geneva and now holds professorial appointments at the Universities of London and Zagreb and at several other universities in the USA and China. He has published more than 400 articles in scientific journals, authored or co-authored a number of books and edited many others. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of the United Kingdom, of the American College of Psychiatry, of the Royal Australian andNew Zealand College of Psychiatrists and of numerous other professional associations. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and honorary member of medical academies in Peru, Mexico and Croatia and holds honorary doctorates from universities in the Cheech Republic, Denmark, Romania, Sweden and the UK. He is also a chief editor of  Current Opinion in Psychiatry and a member of the editorial boards of a number of scientific journals.  Patrick McGorry is a Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and Executive Director of Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health. He is also President of the Society for Mental Health Research in Australia, President of the Schizophrenia International Research Society, and a founding member and Treasurer of the International Early Psychosis Association (IEPA). Leading researcher and innovator in early intervention for emerging mentalillness in young people , Prof. McGorry has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles, more than 50 book chapters and 6 books. He currently serves as Editor in Chief of the journal Early Intervention in Psychiatry, and on the Editorial Board of Schizophrenia Research.

• Introduction: Why Is The Age Of Onset Important For Mental Health Research And Service Delivery?.- Why It Is Important To Study The Age Of Onset Of Medical Disorders.- The Importance Of Aoo Of Mental Disorders For Psychiatric Epidemiology.- Neurobiological Implications And Correlates Of Different Age Of Onsets Of Mental Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Bipolar Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Unipolar Depression.- The Age Of Onset Of Anxiety Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Substance Use Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Alcohol Use Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Personality Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Eating Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Attention-Deficit Hperactivity Disorder.- The Age Of Onset Of Dementias.- Conclusions: From The Study Of The Age Of Onset To The Development Of Age-Specific Interventions In Mental Health.