Paul Byrne received a 2019 IICMS respiratory bursary to attend
The 30^TH International Conference on sleep disorders and Psychiatry
 
I had the excellent opportunity to attend the above conference, in Vienna Austria on July 8^th & 9^th 2019.
I was presenting a poster I had completed, exploring one of our severe sleep apnoea cases. As you may well be aware, Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is becoming more prevalent, both in Ireland and worldwide.
This is manifested in many symptoms, including, daytime fatigue, snoring, witnessed apnoeas, or pauses, night sweats, impaired concentration and weight gain.
Mental health is also affected in many cases, as we all know, a few poor night’s sleep, and we all feel different, from moodiness to anxiety.
It was clear from the conference, that there are many issues affecting mental health, and from listening to several psychiatrists, sleep is of paramount importance, and can exacerbate many psychiatric conditions.
The most common being depression, and the focus was also on our circadian rhythm and how the seasons affect our sleep pattern and levels of depression.  In a very general overview, there are still two schools of thought, one being linked with genetics and epidemiology and the other being life and coping skills and our place in society.
They also focused a lot on Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) , in both adults and children,  a common issue in as much as 50% of children,  and further studies is required essentially, to tease out, what to treat, the ADHD, or the sleep issue, or both, simultaneously.

Overall I found the conference fascinating and was grateful for the experience.

Paul Byrne,
Senior Respiratory Physiologist.
Peamount health care, Newcastle, Co. Dublin