German Society for Social Psychiatry

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Psychiatrie e. V. (DGSP) — the German Society for Social Psychiatry — is a nationwide German association of reform forces in psychosocial care. It was founded in 1970 and is an interregional member organisation of the Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband (DPWV), the German Parity Welfare Association. Its membership, roughly 2,000 people as of the end of 2013, comes from all professional groups working in the psychosocial field. The DGSP understands mental suffering in its social context, in the sense of social psychiatry. Its goal is to promote help services that meet the needs of people with mental illness: community-integrated assistance should replace the place of psychiatric institutions, and psychiatric help should be organised and offered in a person-centred way, independent of the providing institutions and oriented to the needs of those affected. The DGSP advances these goals through nationwide congresses, through publication of the specialist journal "Soziale Psychiatrie", and through short-, medium- and long-term social-psychiatric further education. The society has also taken up the problem of insufficient support when withdrawing from medically prescribed psychotropic drugs. In 2023 it recommended to the Bundesärztekammer (German Medical Association), the DGPPN, the BVDN, the German Association of General Practitioners, the DEGAM and other professional associations that individual dosages and tapering strips be prescribed for low-risk withdrawal from psychotropic medication. Beyond this, the DGSP takes positions on health-policy and psychiatry-policy developments and contributes its views in expert hearings. It has state associations in almost all federal states. Its specialist committees cover education, training and further education; children and adolescents; psychotropic drugs; psychotherapy; research; people in homes; supported living in families/family care (BWF); addiction; work and employment; and a nursing working group. Further DGSP offerings include advice to teams, providers and authorities on planning and establishing social-psychiatric models. Since 1979 the DGSP has researched the involvement of German psychiatry in the "euthanasia" actions of the National Socialists, Aktion T4 and Aktion Brandt. It advocates improved poverty reporting and opposes modern forms of devaluing human life in the debate on assisted dying, and works to protect human rights and human dignity with regard to the application of biology, medicine and biomedicine. Within a three-year project the DGSP promotes and networks independent, "trialogue"-based complaints offices with the aim of establishing user-oriented quality assurance in the community.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Psychiatrie e. V. (DGSP) was founded in 1970 as a nationwide association of reform forces in psychosocial care. It became an interregional member organisation of the Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband (DPWV). By the end of 2013 it had roughly 2,000 members drawn from all professional groups in psychosocial work. From its beginnings the DGSP has understood mental suffering in its social context, in the sense of social psychiatry. Its aim has been to promote help services that meet the needs of people with mental illness: community-integrated assistance should take the place of psychiatric institutions, and psychiatric help should be organised and offered in a person-centred way, independent of the providing institutions and oriented to the needs of those affected. It pursues these goals through nationwide congresses, through the specialist journal "Soziale Psychiatrie", and through short-, medium- and long-term social-psychiatric further education. Since 1979 the DGSP has researched the involvement of German psychiatry in the "euthanasia" actions of the National Socialists, Aktion T4 and Aktion Brandt. It also advocates improved poverty reporting and opposes modern forms of devaluing human life in the debate on assisted dying, and works to protect human rights and human dignity with regard to the application of biology, medicine and biomedicine. The society has taken up the problem of insufficient support when withdrawing from medically prescribed psychotropic drugs. In 2023 it recommended to the Bundesärztekammer, the DGPPN, the BVDN, the German Association of General Practitioners, the DEGAM and other professional associations that individual dosages and tapering strips be prescribed for low-risk withdrawal from psychotropic medication. Beyond this, the DGSP takes positions on health-policy and psychiatry-policy developments and contributes its views in expert hearings. It has state associations in almost all federal states. Its specialist committees cover education, training and further education; children and adolescents; psychotropic drugs; psychotherapy; research; people in homes; supported living in families/family care (BWF); addiction; work and employment; and a nursing working group. Further DGSP offerings include advice to teams, providers and authorities on planning and establishing social-psychiatric models. Within a three-year project the DGSP promotes and networks independent, "trialogue"-based complaints offices with the aim of establishing user-oriented quality assurance in the community.

• 2023

  The DGSP recommends to the Bundesärztekammer, DGPPN, BVDN, German Association of General Practitioners, DEGAM and other professional associations that individual dosages and tapering strips be prescribed for low-risk withdrawal from psychotropic medication.

• 2013

  Membership stands at roughly 2,000, drawn from all professional groups in psychosocial work.

• 1979

  The DGSP begins researching the involvement of German psychiatry in the "euthanasia" actions of the National Socialists, Aktion T4 and Aktion Brandt.

• 1970

  The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Psychiatrie e. V. (DGSP) is founded.

A reform-oriented professional association promoting community-integrated, person-centred social psychiatry in Germany.

• Specialist journal "Soziale Psychiatrie"

  The DGSP's specialist journal, published as part of its work to advance social-psychiatric goals.

• Nationwide congresses

  Congresses through which the DGSP promotes its social-psychiatric goals.

• Social-psychiatric further education

  Short-, medium- and long-term further education offerings in social psychiatry.

• Advice on social-psychiatric models

  Advice to teams, providers and authorities on planning and establishing social-psychiatric models.

• Tapering strips advocacy

  Advocacy for individual dosages and tapering strips for low-risk withdrawal from psychotropic medication.

1. 1Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Psychiatriede.wikipedia.org
2. 2Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziale Psychiatriewikidata.org