EBC at the 34th European Congress of Psychiatry in Prague

The European Brain Council (EBC) was proud to participate in the 34th European Congress of Psychiatry, organised by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) and held at the Prague Congress Centre from 28 to 31 March 2026. Gathering thousands of mental health professionals, researchers, policymakers and patient advocates from across Europe and beyond, the Congress convened under the theme “Mental Health: Improving Care and Expanding Horizons” — a call to action that resonated deeply with EBC’s own mission to improve care pathways for people living with brain disorders, mental and neurological alike.

Throughout all four days of the congress, participants were engaged in interdisciplinary exchanges and the kind of collaborative spirit that only a gathering of this scale can generate. From cutting-edge research presentations to policy-focused roundtables, the programme offered something for every strand of the mental health community. The diversity of perspectives on display — clinicians, neuroscientists, lived-experience experts, carers, and advocates — made this congress especially rich and inspiring.

EBC contributed actively to this agenda through four key sessions and a dedicated exhibition booth, reinforcing its role as a bridge between neuroscience, clinical practice and European health policy.

The discussion was energetic and forward-looking, with strong consensus emerging around the idea that ‘expanding horizons’ in mental health must begin with dismantling the silos that still characterise too much of European health systems. The conversation furthermore emphasised that Europe is not lacking innovation, but rather implementation strategies. Frédéric Destrebecq announced that the newly launched European Partnership for Brain Health will included calls dedicated to exactly that – implementation of innovative research findings into real-world impact!

The session brought together clinicians, policy voices and patient representatives to explore mental and brain health across the lifespan, the intersection of physical health and multimorbidity, the role of lifestyle and social determinants, and the persistent challenge of reducing the mortality gap for people living with serious mental illness. The Policy Forum set a tone of ambition and collaboration that carried through the rest of the congress.

EBC President Suzanne Dickson’s presentation drew on the growing body of evidence linking early biological and psychological markers to psychosis onset, and challenged the audience to think about what it would mean to truly invest in prevention — not just in the clinical sense, but as a political and systemic commitment. Schizophrenia, she argued, is not simply a late-stage psychiatric syndrome — its most damaging consequences (cognitive impairment, loss of function, physical comorbidity, social exclusion) accumulate early, during a high-plasticity window in late adolescence and early adulthood when brain development is still ongoing. This biological reality, she emphasised, is both the challenge and the opportunity: “The brain is still malleable — but only if services can act before disability consolidates.” She spoke to the power of a brain health framing: by understanding schizophrenia and related conditions through the lens of brain development and neurobiology, clinicians, researchers and policymakers can make far more targeted, evidence-based decisions about where to intervene and when.

The auditorium was well-attended, and the exchange that followed the presentations was lively and substantive. The collaboration between FENS and EBC was itself a statement: neuroscience and psychiatry, for too long operating in parallel, have much to gain from working in close, structured alignment. This joint symposium embodied exactly the kind of ‘expanding horizons’ the congress theme called for.

The Rethinking Schizophrenia project — a joint initiative between EBC and the EPA — aims to assess the health and societal benefits of improved interventions compared to current or inadequate care, and to translate data into actionable policy recommendations. This phase of the project builds on extensive fieldwork across nine European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom), drawing on insights gathered from over 200 health practitioners to map patient care pathways and identify systemic gaps.

The APA-WPA setting gave the project important visibility on a truly global stage. The results, which highlight the urgent need for more coordinated, multidisciplinary approaches to schizophrenia care, prompted a rich discussion about the challenges of translating research into reform — and about the role of international organisations such as EBC in bridging that gap. The conversation in the room confirmed what EBC has long argued: that schizophrenia remains a condition where the distance between what we know and what we do is far too wide, and where the human and economic cost of inaction is simply too high.

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Recommendations clustered around three priorities: shortening delays to care through scalable early detection and rapid-access pathways; making functioning a core outcome rather than an afterthought, with routine assessment and targeted psychosocial support; and building reform readiness in health systems through sustainable financing, cross-sector governance, and the careful, equitable use of digital tools.

These exchanges reminded us precisely why multistakeholder dialogue is not a nice-to-have but a strategic necessity. Policy does not exist in a vacuum: the decisions made at European and national level about funding, care standards, workforce, and system design translate — directly and often rapidly — into the structures that clinicians work within and the options available to their patients. When a European directive shapes a national mental health strategy, when a reimbursement decision determines which treatments are accessible, when a policy recommendation pushes for integrated care pathways, the effects trickle down to every consultation room and every patient interaction. These conversations reinforced EBC’s conviction that one of its most important roles is to be that bridge: making the policy-to-practice chain visible and legible to clinicians, and in turn ensuring that clinical realities and patient needs remain audible at the policy level.

Beyond the formal programme, the congress offered countless informal opportunities for exchange — over coffee, in the corridors, at side meetings — and EBC’s team made the most of every one.