psychology

While targeted psychological support in competitive sport is now undisputed and sports psychology interventions of all kinds aimed at optimizing performance are used, particularly in high-performance sport, psychiatric illnesses are still often considered a taboo subject in top-class sport.

A study currently published in the top journal The Lancet Public Health looks at suicide prevention from the point of view of transmission, the transferability of suicidal thoughts and actions, but also of hope and coping strategies. Schools are an important setting for this transmission in children and young people. Based on these findings, a team led by Thomas Niederkrotenthaler from the Medical University of Vienna, who co-authored the publication in The Lancet Public Health, is now implementing and researching a programme for suicide prevention in schools. Suicides are still the second most common cause of death among young people after unintentional injuries. 10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day.

Tobias Schiffler from MedUni Vienna's Center for Public Health, together with his project colleagues Christopher Tupy and Lisa Kainzbauer, received the Best Abstract Award for their presentation of the CoMitMent project at the Sixth International Psychiatry Congress on Mental Health and Recovery in Bern.

Previous studies have shown that patients immediately following and up to one year after discharge from in-patient psychiatric treatment have an increased risk of suicide.

The use of the active ingredient 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as "ecstasy", to support psychotherapy for mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder is being discussed worldwide.

At the end of March, the application deadline for participation in the joint admission procedures of the Medical Universities of Vienna, Innsbruck and Graz as well as the Medical Faculty of the Johannes Kepler University Linz ended. A total of 15,158 people registered for the MedAT on July 5 by the end of March 2024. In the previous year, there were 15,400 binding registrations.