Andreas Heinz (psychotherapist)

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Andreas Heinz
Andreas Heinz 1.jpg
Born (1960-02-04) February 4, 1960 (age 64)
Stuttgart, Germany
Occupation Psychiatrist and Neurologist

Andreas Heinz (born February 4, 1960, in Stuttgart) is a German psychiatrist and neurologist.

Contents

Early life and education

Andreas Heinz studied medicine, philosophy and anthropology in Bochum at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, in Berlin at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the Howard University of Washington D.C. In 1988 he submitted his dissertation (MD) Anthropological and Evolutionary Models in Schizophrenia Researchat the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

Career

Heinz worked as a post-doc at the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD. He qualified for professorship (Habilitation) in psychiatry and psychotherapy in 1998 The Dopaminergic Reward System. [1] In 2013, he obtained a PhD in philosophy The Concept of Mental Health [2] at the faculty of philosophy of the Universität Potsdam and in 2022 he habilitated in philosophy The colonialized brain and the ways of revolt at the faculty of philosophy of the Universität Potsdam.

Since 2002 Heinz has been the director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Campus Charité Mitte Berlin. [3] Since 2012, he has been the vice chair of an organization for Psychiatric Reform and Humanization, the Aktion für Psychisch Kranke. [4] From 2010 to 2014, he was the president of the German Society for Biological Psychiatry (DGBP). From 2008 to 2011, he was the speaker of the Conference of University Chairs of Psychiatry in Germany. Since 2009, he has been a member of the board of the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology and was president of the association from 2020 to 2021. [5] He was the leader of several research projects including the international research project "Mental Health and Migration". [6] He is a proponent of a person centered approach and open wards in psychiatry. [7]

In 2011 he was elected as a Leibnitz chair at the Leibnitz-Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg, in recognition of outstanding research in Neuroscience. [8] For the fall semester of 2014/2015 he was a Karl Jaspers guest professor at the University of Oldenburg. [9]

Heinz is the editor of 13 books including the Practice of Intercultural Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Migration and Mental Health and the author of many scientific publications including studies focussing on psychiatry in national socialism, critical neuroscience and the neurobiology of psychotic and addictive disorders.

Andreas Heinz is the grandson of the former president of the employment office of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Eugen Heinz.

Work

In his review of psychiatric theories that tried to explain the manifestation of schizophrenia in the 20th century, Heinz criticized the use of Eurocentric developmental models. Such models suggest that cultural development is unilinear and reflects brain development, with Europeans representing the allegedly most developed stage and other populations across the world reflecting more "primitive" stages of cultural as well as brain development. [10] [11] In such developmental models, schizophrenia is seen as a loss of higher cognitive functions and an evolutionary "dissolution" or "regression" to a more "primitive" functional level, which is supposed to cause alleged similarities between psychotic experience and magic or "prelogic" ideation among non-European populations. Heinz shows that such theories are internally inconsistent, project an oversimplified model of brain development onto social interactions and fail to recognize that allegedly "primitive" populations, at the beginning of the 20th century, were subjected to European imperialism and colonialism. Heinz criticizes that such unilinear models do not only fail to acknowledge the diversity of human development but also project structurally oversimplified models of top-down control and bottom-up subjection onto brain areas, thus failing to adequately reflect complex interactions in the human central nervous system. [10] Heinz emphasizes the impact of social and political ideas as well as racist prejudices on the historical development of research paradigms and theories regarding mental disorders. [12]

In his empirical work, Heinz focused on bottom-up information processing in reward learning and the associated neurotransmitter systems such as the dopamine and serotonin system. [13] [14] Transferring ideas on dopamine function from addiction research to schizophrenia, he suggested that in psychosis, chaotic or stress-associated phasic increases in striatal dopamine release attribute salience to otherwise irrelevant stimuli and thus contribute to delusional mood, a hypothesis later also supported by Shitij Kapur. [13] [15] Further empirical studies of Heinz and coworkers falsified simple top-down models of cerebral dysfunction in psychotic disorders; instead, his findings confirmed complex interactions between brain areas computing reward-related prediction errors, processing appetitive and threatening stimuli as well as contributing to fluid intelligence. [14] [16]

With respect to cognitive capacity and intelligence, Heinz emphasized stress-related alterations in dopaminergic neurotransmission and their impact on the neurobiological correlates of fluid intelligence. [17] He suggested that social isolation stress and discrimination are key factors interacting with basic cognitive functions as well as general mental health. [18] [19] Based on studies emphasizing the role of social exclusion, Heinz promotes community care and the orientation of regional psychiatric hospitals towards settings with open doors and inclusion of subjects with mental health care problems in all aspects of society. [7] [19]

With respect to concepts of mental health and disease, Heinz criticized the view that mental disorders can be understood referring to a concept of "normality"; he argues that the frequency in which mental disorders are present (e.g. rising rates of Alzheimer's Dementia in old age) does not offer a valid criterion to decide whether a certain state can be understood as a disease or not. Instead, Heinz [20] suggests that discussions about mental maladies should distinguish between the medical ("disease") aspects of any disorder, the subjective illness experience (centered about individual suffering) and impairments in social participation (the "sickness" aspect of a mental malady). Heinz suggests that a clinically relevant mental malady should only be diagnosed, if the disease criterion and either the illness or sickness criterion are fulfilled. With respect to the medical aspect, Heinz claims that the disease criterion of a mental malady is only fulfilled if an impaired mental function is generally relevant for survival or at least the ability of the afflicted person to live with other human beings in a common world ("Mitwelt"). With respect to clinical practice, Heinz suggests that medically relevant symptoms of mental disorders such as a delirium or dementia are directly life-threatening, while key symptoms of psychosis and major affective disorders can impair the ability of an afflicted person to live with others, e.g. because own intentions and acts are attributed to outside forces such as "imperative acoustic hallucinations" or "inserted thoughts". Heinz emphasizes that such impairments at the symptom or disease level of a mental disorder are not sufficient to diagnose a clinically relevant mental malady, because some subjects experience acoustic hallucinations (thus fulfilling the disease criterion) but neither suffer from them nor are impaired in social participation. He claims that in such cases, no clinically relevant mental malady should be diagnosed. Heinz suggests focusing the mental health care system on subjects with clinically relevant mental maladies to promote inclusion in the community and on the work place. [21]

Honors

Memberships

Publications (selected)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dementia praecox</span> Obsolete medical term for the schizophrenia and autism spectrums

Dementia praecox is a disused psychiatric diagnosis that originally designated a chronic, deteriorating psychotic disorder characterized by rapid cognitive disintegration, usually beginning in the late teens or early adulthood. Over the years, the term dementia praecox was gradually replaced by the term schizophrenia, which initially had a meaning that included what is today considered the autism spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emil Kraepelin</span> German psychiatrist (1856–1926)

Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics.

A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is also characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, often in a social context. Such disturbances may occur as single episodes, may be persistent, or may be relapsing–remitting. There are many different types of mental disorders, with signs and symptoms that vary widely between specific disorders. A mental disorder is one aspect of mental health.

Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior that is inappropriate for a given situation. There may also be sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and difficulties carrying out daily activities. Psychosis can have serious adverse outcomes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schizophrenia</span> Mental disorder with psychotic symptoms

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by reoccurring episodes of psychosis that are correlated with a general misperception of reality. Other common signs include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, social withdrawal, and flat affect. Symptoms develop gradually and typically begin during young adulthood and are never resolved. There is no objective diagnostic test; diagnosis is based on observed behavior, a psychiatric history that includes the person's reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person. For a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the described symptoms need to have been present for at least six months or one month. Many people with schizophrenia have other mental disorders, especially substance use disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive–compulsive disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Causes of mental disorders</span> Etiology of psychopathology

A mental disorder is an impairment of the mind disrupting normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, or social interactions, and accompanied by significant distress or dysfunction. The causes of mental disorders are very complex and vary depending on the particular disorder and the individual. Although the causes of most mental disorders are not fully understood, researchers have identified a variety of biological, psychological, and environmental factors that can contribute to the development or progression of mental disorders. Most mental disorders result in a combination of several different factors rather than just a single factor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Wernicke</span> German physician and neuropathologist (1848–1905)

CarlWernicke was a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist. He is known for his influential research into the pathological effects of specific forms of encephalopathy and also the study of receptive aphasia, both of which are commonly associated with Wernicke's name and referred to as Wernicke encephalopathy and Wernicke's aphasia, respectively. His research, along with that of Paul Broca, led to groundbreaking realizations of the localization of brain function, specifically in speech. As such, Wernicke's area has been named after the scientist.

Biological psychiatry or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscience, psychopharmacology, biochemistry, genetics, epigenetics and physiology to investigate the biological bases of behavior and psychopathology. Biopsychiatry is the branch of medicine which deals with the study of the biological function of the nervous system in mental disorders.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kraepelinian dichotomy</span>

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Unitary psychosis (Einheitspsychose) refers to the 19th-century belief prevalent in German psychiatry until the era of Emil Kraepelin that all forms of psychosis were surface variations of a single underlying disease process. According to this model, there were no distinct disease entities in psychiatry but only varieties of a single universal madness and the boundaries between these variants were fluid. The prevalence of the concept in Germany during the mid-19th century can be understood in terms of a general resistance to Cartesian dualism and faculty psychology as expressed in Naturphilosophie and other Romantic doctrines that emphasised the unity of body, mind and spirit.

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References

  1. Das dopaminerge Verstärkungssystem at Google Books
  2. "Der Begriff der psychischen Krankheit von Andreas Heinz – Suhrkamp Insel Bücher Buchdetail". suhrkamp.de. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
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  7. 1 2 U. Lang; S. Hartmann; S. Schulz-Hartmann; Y. Gudlowski; R. Ricken; I. Munk; D. von Haebler; J. Gallinat; Andreas Heinz (2010), European Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 4/24, pp. 199–204{{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. "Andreas Heinz erhielt Leibniz Chair". Archived from the original on 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  9. "Psychiater Andreas Heinz ist Karl Jaspers-Gastprofessor — Uni Oldenburg". uni-oldenburg.de. 2015-03-27. Archived from the original on 2015-04-09. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  10. 1 2 Andreas Heinz, "Anthropologische und evolutionäre Modelle in der Schizophrenieforschung.", Das Transkulturelle Psychoforum, Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, vol. 9
  11. Andreas Heinz, "Colonial perspectives in the construction of the schizophrenic patient as primitive man.", Crit Anthropol, vol. 18, pp. 421–444
  12. Heinz, Andreas (2023). Das kolonialisierte Gehirn und die Wege der Revolte. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag (published 2023-07-17). ISBN   978-3-518-30003-9.
  13. 1 2 Andreas Heinz (2002), "Dopaminergic dysfunction in alcoholism and schizophrenia—psychopathological and behavioral correlates.", Eur Psychiatry, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 9–16, doi:10.1016/s0924-9338(02)00628-4, PMID   11918987, S2CID   29071116
  14. 1 2 Adrienne J. Heinz; Anne Beck; Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg; Philipp Sterzer; Andreas Heinz (2011), "Cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol-related aggression.", Nat Rev Neurosci., vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 400–13, doi:10.1038/nrn3042, PMID   21633380, S2CID   205506613
  15. Kapur S (2003), "Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia.", Am J Psychiatry, vol. 160, no. 1, pp. 13–23, doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.1.13, PMID   12505794, S2CID   15910113
  16. Schlagenhauf F; Rapp MA; Huys QJ; Beck A; Wüstenberg T; Deserno L; Buchholz HG; Kalbitzer J; Buchert R; Bauer M; Kienast T; Cumming P; Plotkin M; Kumakura Y; Grace AA; Dolan RJ; Heinz A. (2013), "Ventral striatal prediction error signaling is associated with dopamine synthesis capacity and fluid intelligence.", Hum Brain Mapp., vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 1490–9, doi:10.1002/hbm.22000, PMC   3731774 , PMID   22344813
  17. Friedel E; Schlagenhauf F; Beck A; Dolan RJ; Huys QJ; Rapp MA; Heinz A. (2015), "The effects of life stress and neural learning signals on fluid intelligence.", Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci., vol. 265, no. 1, pp. 35–43, doi: 10.1007/s00406-014-0519-3 , PMC   4311068 , PMID   25142177
  18. Heinz A; Deserno L; Reininghaus U. (2013), "Urbanicity, social adversity and psychosis.", World Psychiatry., vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 187–97, doi:10.1002/wps.20056, PMC   3799240 , PMID   24096775
  19. 1 2 Rapp MA; Kluge U; Penka S; Vardar A; Aichberger MC; Mundt AP; Schouler-Ocak M; Mösko M; Butler J; Meyer-Lindenberg A; Heinz A. (2015), "When local poverty is more important than your income: Mental health in minorities in inner cities.", World Psychiatry., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 249–50, doi:10.1002/wps.20221, PMC   4471987 , PMID   26043348
  20. Andreas Heinz, Der Begriff der psychischen Krankheit., Berlin: Suhrkamp taschenbuch wissenschaft
  21. Andreas Heinz; Katrin Charlet; Michael A. Rapp (2015), "Public mental health: a call to action.", World Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 49–50, doi:10.1002/wps.20182, PMC   4329893 , PMID   25655154
  22. "Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Heinz : Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur | Mainz". adwmainz.de. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  23. "List of Members".