Each year, the APA President has the privilege of choosing a theme that serves as the guiding principle of the Annual Meeting and its scientific program. The meeting theme helps to both focus the program and create space for special sessions centered around confronting some of the most pressing psychiatric issues of the day.

I was inspired to create this theme because I wanted to draw on my professional experience, as well as the knowledge, passion and expertise of our membership as we work together to address the impact that substance use disorders have on our patients and more broadly, on society.

We are in a unique moment where we are lucky to have incredible science, research, and tools that can help in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUD). Some of these, like naloxone and buprenorphine for example, can mean the difference between life and death for someone who is struggling with opioid use disorder. The same can be true of treatments like naltrexone, which when made available to a patient and administered correctly can have a life-changing effect.

Our mission must be one of education and awareness that these treatments and others are available, safe and effective when administered correctly, with a particular emphasis on using our expertise as psychiatrists to advocate for a greater investment in the SUD treatment infrastructure in this country.

I hope you’ll join us in New York this coming Spring for the premier psychiatric event of the year. I am sure we will succeed in connecting our members with other allied professions and serving as source of practical information for members and allies alike, so that we can all work together to confront addiction with maximum effectiveness.

Learn more about this year's theme here.

Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A.

• 2023-2024 APA President
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