Hans-Ulrich Wittchen

Hans-Ulrich Wittchen (born July 6, 1951 in Bad Salzuflen) is a German clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. He has been a head of the Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy[1] and the Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS)[2] at the Technische Universität Dresden since 2000.

Biography and education

Upon finishing Freiherr-von-Stein-Gymnasium in Leverkusen in 1968, Wittchen studied Medicine and Psychology in Vienna, Austria. After accomplishing his Studies he began his career as a scientific assistant at the chair for psychiatry at the medical faculty of Vienna University (1973–1976). In addition he had acquired a supplementary qualification as a Behavioral Therapist (Psychotherapy) with German Behavioral Therapists Association[3] and with the Österreichische Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Verhaltenstherapie.[4] In Vienna, Hans-Ulrich Wittchen was in charge of introduction of behavioral therapy methods at Anton Proksch Institute and at Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute. He earned his Ph.D. in 1975 with a thesis[5] on clinical significance of biofeedback methods.

After graduating, Wittchen switched to The Central Institute of Mental Health[6] in Mannheim in 1976, later on to Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich. In 1984 he graduated in clinical psychology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität with a publication[7] on progress and outcome of treated and untreated mental disorders. Between 1984 and 1990 he was a professor for clinical psychology and psychotherapy at University of Mannheim where he founded the institute clinic as well as psychophysiological lab. In 1989–1990 Wittchen was granted leave to counsel the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services during preparations of the DSM-III-R[8] and ICD-10[9] classifications and to conduct accompanying studies. He returned to Max Planck Institute as the Head of Psychological Department in 1990. Since 2004 he is in charge of the Epidemiological Panel at Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry.

Other significant points in his professional career were the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, USA, Ann Arbor and Harvard University in Boston (US).

Since 2000 Wittchen is a professor for clinical psychology and psychotherapy at the Technische Universität Dresden. He is the head of the Institute of Clinical Psychology and of the Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), the head and managing director of the postgraduate study program “Psychological Psychotherapy” as well as of institute clinic and the day-care hospital for psychology at the Technische Universität Dresden (IAP-TU Dresden GmbH).[10]

Wittchen is father to two children.

Work

Wittchen conducts aetiological basic research on anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, stress and substance-related disorders as well as on related physical disorders. Wittchen specifically claims to have aided the discovery of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Fields of his studies include frequency, burdening effects, progress, treatment, therapy and prevention of mental disorders.

With regards to diagnostic investigation of mental disorders (DSM-IV, ICD), Wittchen has contributed to development of diagnostic instruments, such as Structured Clinical Interview for Mental Disorders (SKID)[11] and Computer-aided International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).[12]

Memberships

Wittchen is a spokesman and study director to numerous research associations (BMBF, ASAT, Panicnet[13]). He is also a Task Force Member der APA-DSM-5 Commission for Anxiety Disorders[14] and an Executive Council Member of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)[15] and a Task Force Member of the European Brain Council (EBC) “Size, burden and cost of disorders of the brain in Europe”. He is also Project Manager and Co-Investigator to many national and international clinical-therapeutical and epidemiological studies (i.g. MFS, EDSP, WMH,[16] NCS,[17] IDEA, DETECT,[18] GEPAD, MentDis65+,[19] ROAMER[20] and Protect-AD). In addition, he is an honorary professor for psychology at Ludwig Maximilians Universität of Munich and an honorary professor for epidemiology and public health at Miami University, Miller School of Medicine.

Publications

Wittchen is author and publisher of books (both in German and in English) on epidemiology and treatment of mental disorders as well as of more than 500 peer-reviewed articles.

Together with Jürgen Hoyer he co-authors and publishes the course book Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie[21] (in German) as well as numerous specialist books on behavioral therapy and psychotherapy, i.g. Konfrontationstherapie bei Psychischen Störungen (co-authored by Peter Neudeck)[22] Handbuch Psychischer Störungen[23] und Expositionsbasierte Therapie der Panikstörung und Agoraphobie.[24]

He also co-authored several patient-oriented psychoeducative self-help books, such as Ratgeber Angst. Was Sie schon immer über Angst wissen wollten.

Wittchen is the founder and co-publisher of many trade magazines, i.g. Verhaltenstherapie[25] and International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research.[26]

Awards

  • 2003: Medvantis Research Prize, Berlin (€65.000)
  • 2004: ISI/WOS Top 100 Highly cited in Psychology/Psychiatry/Neuroscience
  • 2010: Vice-President of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)
  • 2012: Wagner-Jauregg Medal for his life work from Austrian Society for Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry.
  • 2016: Thomson Reuters honours Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen as "Highly Cited Researcher".

Notes

  1. ↑ Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
  2. ↑ Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Lognitudinal Studies
  3. ↑ Berufsverband Deutscher Verhaltenstherapeuten
  4. ↑ Österreichische Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Verhaltenstherapie
  5. ↑ H.-U. Wittchen: Biofeedback und Alkoholismus. Dissertation. Vienna 1975.
  6. ↑ Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, in English]
  7. ↑ Verlauf und Ausgang behandelter und unbehandelter affektiver Störungen unter psychopathologischen, sozialen und psychologischen Aspekten. Habilitation. Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München 1984.
  8. ↑ DSM-III-R. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC 1987.
  9. ↑ Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases Chapter V (F): Mental and Behavioral Disorders (including disorders of psychological development). Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guideline. World Health Organization, Geneva 1991.
  10. ↑ Homepage des Aufbaustudienganges Psychologische Psychotherapie an der TU Dresden
  11. ↑ H.-U. Wittchen, M. Zaudig, T. Fydrich: SKID. Strukturiertes Klinisches Interview für DSM-IV. Achse I und II. Handanweisung. Hogrefe, Göttingen 1997.
  12. ↑ H. U. Wittchen, H. Pfister: DIA-X-Interviews: Manual für Screening Verfahren und Interview; Interviewheft Längsschnittuntersuchung (DIA-X-Lifetime); Ergänzungsheft (DIA-X-Lifetime); Interviewheft Querschnittsuntersuchung (DIA-X-12 Monate); Ergänzungsheft (DIA-X-12 Monate); PC-Programm zur Durchführung des Interviews (Längs- und Querschnittsuntersuchung); Auswertungsprogramm. Swets & Zeitlinger, Frankfurt 1997.
  13. ↑ paniknetz.de Panicnet
  14. ↑ APA-DSM-5
  15. ↑ ECNP
  16. ↑ WHO Mental Health Atlas 2011
  17. ↑ National Comorbidity Survey (NCS)
  18. ↑ DETECT-Studie
  19. ↑ MentDis65+ Studie
  20. ↑ roamer-mh.org ROAMER
  21. ↑ H.-U. Wittchen, J. Hoyer (Hrsg.): Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie. 2. Auflage. Springer, Heidelberg 2006.
  22. ↑ P. Neudeck, H.-U. Wittchen: Konfrontationstherapie bei psychischen Störungen. Hogrefe, Göttingen 2007.
  23. ↑ H.-U. Wittchen (Hrsg.): Handbuch Psychische Störungen. Beltz, Weinheim 1998.
  24. ↑ T. Lang, S. Helbig-Lang, D. Westphal, A. Gloster, H.-U. Wittchen: Expositionsbasierte Therapie der Panikstörung mit Agoraphobie: ein Behandlungsmanual. Hogrefe, Göttingen u. a. 2011.
  25. ↑ Verhaltenstherapie
  26. ↑ International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
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