Media Contact: Jan Jennings, (619) 822-1684

UCSD TO HOST CONFERENCE ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES MAY 4-6

Manic-depressive illness, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Alzheimer’s disease are the three major topics to be explored at the second annual Inner and Outer Limits Conference: A Focus on Mental Health May 4-6 at the University of California, San Diego.

The conference is coordinated by UCSD’s Community Advocates for Disability Rights and Education (CADRE) and is being held in conjunction with Mental Health Month. All events are free and open to the public.

Featured speakers and topics include local mystery writer Abigail Padgett, manic depressive illness or bipolar disorder; clinical psychologist Kathleen Nadeau, Attention Deficit Disorder, and neuroscientist Leon Thal, M.D., Alzheimer’s disease.

Padgett will speak on Understanding Bipolar Disorder at 7 p.m. May 4 at the Institute of the Americas. She speaks from personal experience as the parent of a son with manic depression.

The author is a former court investigator in San Diego and now works as a mental health advocate. Her mysteries focus on a strong female protagonist, child abuse investigator Bo Bradley, who struggles to live with manic-depression as she fights for children who have fallen into California’s child abuse system. The author also will be available at a booksigning earlier that day from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the UCSD Bookstore.

Nadeau will speak on Women and Attention Deficit Disorder at noon May 5 at the UCSD Women’s Center and on Attention Deficit Disorder in the Workplace at 7 p.m. that evening in Robinson Auditorium, UCSD’s International Relations/Pacific Studies.

Nadeau is a pioneer in the field of ADD, the editor of the first text for professionals about the diagnosis and treatment of adults with the disease, co-editor of a magazine for women with ADD, and the author of a number of books on the subject. She has devoted the past 15 years to helping people of all ages who have the disease and serves on the professional advisory boards of the two major associations that advocate for individuals with ADD.

Thal will speak on Alzheimer’s Disease: Biology and Treatment, describing the current understanding of the disease, at 6:30 p.m. May 6 at the Institute of the Americas.

One of the leading experts in the field, Thal is chair of the UCSD Department of Neurosciences and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. He also is principal investigator of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study Center, a consortium of academic medical centers whose activities include the design and conducting of clinical drug trials for promising new drugs that may slow or halt the progression of the disease.

The Inner and Outer Limits Conference also will feature a Caregivers’ Information Fair from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. May 6 at the Institute of the Americas. Representatives from the Southern Caregiver Resource Center will provide information on legal issues, in-home care, placement options, medications, case management, caregiver resources, geriatric medicine and hospice.

Representatives from the UCSD Human Resources Employee Support Services unit will be available to provide information for UCSD employees with caregiver concerns.

The goal of the conference is to improve attitudes and perceptions toward mental health issues and to heighten awareness of the availability of treatment, support and accommodation.

For further information call Lynne Clark, CADRE president and conference chair, at 534-4497. Persons with disabilities who require accommodation to access the programs may call 534-4382 for assistance.