S01E02 Our future with brain disorders: Advocating for a "paradigm shift"

01/19/19 • 55 min

Brain disorders are becoming more and more prevalent in the population. Kim’s and Alessia’s guest - Frédéric Destrebecq, executive director of European Brain Council (EBC) - is here to tell us about how society can cope with this tendency, discussing prevention and treatment of brain diseases as well as topics like effects of depression, mental illness stigma, stress disorders and burnout syndrome.

European Brain Council is a non-profit organization that brings together patient associations, research institutions, and representatives of the relevant industries, with a mission to improve the quality of life among people suffering from neurological disorders. Founded in Brussels in 2002, EBC have spent the last 16 years facilitating communication between their member organizations, as well as between research, industry and policy-makers.

Furthermore, they have been influencing European Commission and European Parliament to invest more in brain health. Besides the pan-European level, EBC works with National Brain Councils and National Action Groups (check this map to see if you country has one) too, and on global partnerships.

Kim Baden-Kristensen is the co-founder and CEO of Brain+, a digital therapeutics company that helps people with brain disorders and injuries to recover their fundamental cognitive brain functions and daily life capabilities by using an app-based cognitive rehabilitation platform, which is developed in close collaboration with patients, clinicians and researchers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbadenk/
Alessia Covello is a life science IT consultant working in the field of healthcare technology implementation, and advocating for better services for people with brain conditions and learning disabilities. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiacovello/

Discussion points include:

● Brain health statistics: prevalence in the population, costs of treatment, current issues (4:00 - 16:20)
● The role of education and awareness, especially in work environments (13:22)
● Technology in hospital care and daily life (16:24-22:00)
● The role, the achievements, and the priorities of EBC (22:15-27:30)
● Treatment and prevention - what is more important? (27:44-33:45)
● Allocation of the EU sources to brain research (34: 04-46:00)
● Role of the industry (46:36-48:30)
● Patient-centered care (48.38-50:45)

Disclaimer:
All references to products, companies, and organizations in this podcast and the article that accompanies it are included with the purpose to inform, rather than promote or advertise. The podcast authors do not receive financial compensation for any of these references.

Discussion points include:

Next Episode

S01E04 “Allowing the brain and the mind to repair itself”: Recovery after trauma

The phrase psychological trauma can be roughly translated as “the wound of the soul”. Contemporary neuropsychology shows us that the wound is not metaphorical, as this poetic-sounding phrase might suggest, but rather a real one, detectable in the brain’s neural networks.

To understand what these wounds look like, how we acquire them, and what we can do about them, the Brain Health podcast team interviews a practitioner of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), Isabel Fernandez. A cognitive-behavioral psychologist and a psychotherapist, Fernandez is trained in EMDR therapy and currently serves as the president of both EMDR Europe (a professional association of EMDR therapists) and its Italian branch (EMDR Italy). Besides discussing psychological trauma treatment, Fernandez also shares her rich knowledge of childhood trauma and trauma symptoms.

EMDR Europe was founded in 1999 with a mission to use EMDR treatment to help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and emotional trauma, as well as mental illness, to overcome their issues. Having started with a few hundred, the association is now 23 000 therapists strong, and has 31 national committees in Europe. Furthermore, they work with EMDR International Association and EMDR Research Foundation within EMDR Global Alliance, and promote the therapy in the Middle Eastern and African countries. They often provide psychological first aid where there is a high risk of trauma - refugee hotspots, and sites of terror attacks and tragic accidents.

Kim Baden-Kristensen is the co-founder and CEO of Brain+, a digital therapeutics company that helps people with brain disorders and injuries to recover their fundamental cognitive brain functions and daily life capabilities by using an app-based cognitive rehabilitation platform, which is developed in close collaboration with patients, clinicians and researchers.https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbadenk/
Alessia Covello is a life science IT consultant working in the field of healthcare technology implementation, and advocating for better services for people with brain conditions and learning disabilities.https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiacovello/

Talking points include :

5:03 What is EMDR therapy and how it works
9:27 Psychological trauma: Basic facts
14:47 - Trauma symptoms in the brain: the physiological level, stress reactions, hormonal reactions
23:24 - What happens with the memory of a traumatic experience and how EMDR helps
27:56 - Childhood trauma: Why children don’t talk about their traumas and what to do about it
31:18 - What are our natural “tools” against traumatic experience, and when in life do they develop?
35:49 - Risk factors: Practical advice
44:22 - Recovery from trauma - different phases and obstacles
47:52 – Protective factors: Practical advice
53:47 – Exposure therapy relying on virtual reality (VR)

Disclaimer:
All references to products, companies, and organizations in this podcast and the article that accompanies it are included with the purpose to inform, rather than promote or advertise. The podcast authors do not receive financial compensation for any of these references.