Abstract Body

Several changes to the classification of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders have been made to increase the reliability, clinical use and validity of the diagnostic classification which are considered here.

A diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder would only be made in ICD-11 when the definitional requirement of schizophrenia is met concurrently with mood symptoms that meet the definitional requirements of a moderate or severe depressive episode, a manic episode, or a mixed episode. This requirement is more restrictive compared to ICD-10, which just required the presence of symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorder. The total duration requirement would be 4 weeks.

A cross-sectional approach was maintained in the ICD-11 for schizoaffective disorders as there is no evidence on how a longitudinal “lifetime” criterion impacts cross-sectional inter-rater reliability, and the reliability of lifetime symptoms' report by patients and retrospective assessment by clinicians remains unknown.

Abstract Body

Psychiatry is facing major challenges during times of a pandemic as illustrated by the current COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges involve its actual and perceived role within the medical system, in particular how psychiatric hospitals can maintain their core mission of attending to the mentally ill while at the same time providing relief to general medicine. Although psychiatric disorders are the top leading causes of global burden of disease, we can witness mental health care being de-emphasized in the wake of the massive onslaught of the pandemic: psychiatric wards are being downsized, clinics closed, psychiatric support systems discontinued etc. in order to make room for emergency care. While nobody can deny the need to act decisively and swiftly and ramp up intensive care readiness, we believe that there is no need to do this at the expense of psychiatric care. Using the pandemic COVID-19 contingency plan developed at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital of LMU Munich as a case in point, we demonstrate how a psychiatric hospital can share in the acute care of a health care system facing an acute and highly infectious pandemic like COVID-19 and at the same time provide for the mentally ill, with or without a COVID-19 infection, and develop mid and long-term plans for coping with the aftermath of the pandemic.

Abstract Body

For a Mid-career Professor in Germany, there are defined clinical and teaching responsibilities. One can focus either on one’s research or on clinical work and teaching. When tasks are becoming more demanding or significant overarching decisions need to be taken, there is always a chairperson to be asked or to help delegate tasks.

As chairperson, one is mostly independent from other persons except for the dean of the medical faculty. One is however, at least in Germany, the chairpersons fully responsible for keeping up teaching, patient care, research as well as running the department. The Chairperson is measured by the achievements of these four tasks.

It need special attention to keep up a balanced time schedule to cover clinical care, research, teaching and departmental management.

A good chairs means working together with your staff on long-term goals, developing the department fruitfully and trying to fulfil these goals.