Global Wellness Summit 2021 to focus on innovations in mental health

The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has announced that innovations in mental health will be a key topic at this year’s conference. 

A host of experts will share their insight into the future direction of mental health and wellness, and how  neuroscientific research is accelerating innovative approaches that could help solve the global mental health crisis. 

Speakers include academics Dr Richard J. Davidson, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Dr Rebecca Robbins, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who will present new research on the topic of mental health.

The 15th annual GWS conference will take place both virtually and in person at the Encore Boston Harbor, a Wynn Resort in Boston, US, between November 30 and December 3. The virtual conference will be available to attendees worldwide. 

Other speakers include Dr Hanna Poikonen, a neuroscience researcher at ETH Zurich, who will give a talk on how a new understanding of the connection between movement and the mind will change how we approach mental wellness. 

Cinematographer Louis Schwartzberg will address how psychedelic mushrooms could be a sustainable solution for mental health conditions such as depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), while Freddie Moross, of music-for-wellbeing innovator Myndstream, will deliver a keynote, including a live musical performance, on how younger generations are embracing experimental practices that use music as medicine for the mind.

“The demand for more mental wellness solutions was really driving the wellness market pre-pandemic, and then Covid-19 took its terrible toll on the world’s mental health. A new study shows major depression and severe anxiety have increased nearly 30 per cent globally,” said Susie Ellis, chair and CEO of GWS.

“With such a dire need for more accessible and evidence-based mental health and wellness solutions, we felt it was crucial to bring together scientists and innovators that are now trailblazing that future.”

The theme for this year’s event is ‘A New New Era in Health & Wellness’, it will also include talks from Michael Roizen, MD, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic and co-chair of this year’s conference; Jeffrey Rediger, MD, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and practising physician at McLean Hospital; and Nicola Finley, MD, a board-certified internal medicine physician and faculty member at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona.