Taking care of ourselves

I am a psychologist and researcher at Lund University, specializing in psychiatry. I am also a hunter myself, which has sparked my interest in how research and practice can come together in ways that work in real life.
In Sweden, there are around 300,000 hunters. Hunting is a widespread popular activity and an important part of life in nature and rural communities. At the same time, there are indications that suicide is more common in this group.
My talk will move through nature, camaraderie, traditions—and death. I might also reveal why it can be particularly difficult for hunters to seek help.

Rosie James is a medical student and PhD researcher in psychiatry at Lund University, interested in how self‑harm, help‑seeking, and social experiences intersect in young adults and borderline personality disorder.
Self‑harm is often hidden, surrounded by stigma, and difficult to talk about—even though many of us encounter it personally or through someone close to us. Knowing someone who self‑harms can be frightening: what do you say, and what if talking about it only makes things worse? Drawing on research with university students, this talk explores how to save a life by examining how social experiences around self‑harm connect to understanding and help‑seeking. It also invites reflection on what it might mean to talk about self‑harm together, in spaces like this one.

Pouya Movahed is a psychiatrist and researcher at Lund University and Region Skåne. His work focuses on developing and evaluating treatments for severe psychiatric disorders, including severe depression, OCD, and eating disorders. He is the principal investigator of the PsiAN study, examining psilocybin as a potential treatment for anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa is one of the most severe psychiatric disorders, with high mortality and limited treatment options—especially in chronic cases. Despite intensive care, many patients remain ill for years.

The PsiAN study explores whether psilocybin, administered in a controlled clinical setting, could offer a new therapeutic pathway. While the substance itself is not new, its potential role in treating rigid thought patterns, anxiety, and impaired emotional processing is now being systematically investigated.

In this talk, I will briefly outline why current treatments are often insufficient, the rationale behind using psilocybin, and how we are approaching safety, ethics, and clinical evaluation in this first study of its kind in this patient group.