Why we need to take neurodevelopment conditions seriously in psychiatry – a new science perspective

Date: Tuesday 16 June
Time: 10.30am - 11.45am

Overview

Across psychiatry, the scale and impact of neurodevelopmental conditions are now impossible to ignore. More than 700,000 people in England are currently awaiting autism/ADHD assessment—this illustrates both rising recognition and profound unmet need. Despite unprecedented public/ clinical interest—ADHD was the second most searched term on the NHS website in 2024—psychiatric practice, research/service design remain fragmented.

Knowledge at the interface between neurodevelopment, mental illness, and physical health is often inconsistent, leaving many patients without timely or effective care. Many psychiatrists appreciate this need, and the appetite for further learning is huge, but they do not necessarily feel equipped to bring this into practice.

This symposium brings leading research in this space, which reviews and challenges conventional boundaries within psychiatry. Recent large-scale population studies, longitudinal analyses, and neurobiological investigations illuminate how neurodevelopmental differences contribute to vulnerability across multiple psychiatric and physical disorders, including mood instability and psychosis. These findings demand a reconceptualisation of diagnostic systems, treatment planning, and training pathways.

Attendees will gain insight into robust evidence demonstrating the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological and multimodal interventions for ADHD, the biological and psychosocial mechanisms linking brain and body in neurodevelopmental conditions, and the critical relevance of poorly understood conditions such as Tourette syndrome and other complex presentations for understanding emotional regulation and suicidality, applicable across psychiatry.

The session addresses an urgent need for psychiatrists to integrate neurodevelopmental science into everyday clinical reasoning. In doing so, it offers a forward-looking, evidence-based vision of psychiatry that bridges silos, informs policy, and aligns with public demand.

The symposium will appeal broadly across all psychiatric specialities, including child, adult, liaison, perinatal, forensic, learning disability and addictions psychiatry. It aims to equip attendees with the conceptual tools necessary to meet the challenges of modern mental health care.

In this session, you will explore:

  • You will gain an understanding of the scientific and clinical rationale for integrating autism, ADHD, and related neurodevelopmental conditions into mainstream psychiatric thinking and practice using robust research evidence.
  • You will critically examine emerging research on shared neurobiological, cognitive, and systemic mechanisms that cut across traditional diagnostic boundaries in psychiatry with relevance to all psychiatrists.
  • We will identify practical strategies for improving transdiagnostic assessment and evidence-based management skills among psychiatrists in response to the growing unmet need and diagnostic backlog and delays.
  • We will consider how service design, research collaboration, and workforce education can reduce fragmentation and promote a unified, evidence-based approach to neurodevelopmental clinical care.

Speakers

  • Chair: Dr Adrian James, NHS England, London

  • Findings from the ADHD independent taskforce: why change is desperately needed
    • Professor Anita Thapar, University of Cardiff, Cardiff
  • Why ADHD medication is safe, effective and essential
    • Professor Sam Cortese, University of Southampton, Southampton
  • Why neurodevelopmental conditions are linked to serious mental and physical illness including bipolar disorder, psychosis, and self-harm: brain-body links
    • Dr Jessica Eccles, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton
  • Why everyone should understand Tourette syndrome, and its link with emotional dysregulation and suicidality
    • Professor Hugo Critchley, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton
    Register for Congress 2026

    Please email congress@rcpsych.ac.uk or call 020 8618 4120 with any enquiries.