Age of Onset of Mental Disorders

Introduction: Relevance of The Age of Onset of Mental Disorders to Research in Psychiatry and to the Organization of Services for People with Mental Illness (Giovanni De Girolamo, Pat Mcgorry & Norman Sartorius ).- Lessons from Knowledge about the Correlates of the Age of Onset of Physical Illness (Paolo Vineis & Carlotta Sacerdote).- Does The Age of Onset Shape the Clinical Picture, Course, Outcome and the Consequences of Mental Disorders? A Case Study of Schizophrenia (Heinz Hafner).- Neurobiological Implications and Correlates of Different Age of Onsets of Mental Disorders (Nikolaos Koutsouleris).- The Age Of Onset Of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (John Mcgrath, Matti Isohanni & Jouko Miettunen).- The Age of Onset of Bipolar Disorders (Jessica Dagani, Giulia Signorini, & Giovanni De Girolamo), Matthew Large, Olav Nielssen).- The Age of Onset of Unipolar Depression (Allan Young & Nefize Yalin).- The Age of Onset of Anxiety Disorders (Jeroen Legerstee, Jamjine De Lister & Frank Verhulst).- The Age of Onset of Substance Use Disorders (Adrian Kelly & Wayne Hall).- The Age of Onset of Alcohol Use Disorders (Jason Connor & Wayne Hall).- The Age of Onset of Personality Disorders (Andrew Chanen)

Giovanni de Girolamo, M.D., leads the Psychiatric Epidemiology and Evaluation Unit at the IRCCS St. John of God Clinical Research Centre, Brescia (Italy), and is a Professor at the Faculty of Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan (Italy). From 1988 to 1994 he was an Associate Professional Officer at the Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva; after his return to Italy, he has worked at the Italian N.I.H. in Rome and at the Department of Mental Health in Bologna. He has been a principal investigator for a range of studies covering  a variety of mental health areas, and has been the PI of the Italian site participating to the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. He is currently the principal investigator for the Italian site of the European projects "THE MILESTONE PROJECT: Managing the Link and Strengthening Transition from Child to Adult Mental Health Care" and RADAR-CNS. Prof. de Girolamo has published more than 250 papers and authored or co-authored several books and book chapters. 

Norman Sartorius was the Director of the Division of Mental Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) and subsequently President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and then  President of the Association of European Psychiatrists). He is currently President of the Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programmes and a member of the Geneva Prize Foundation, having previously been its President. Professor Sartorius was professor of psychiatry at the University of Geneva and now holds professorial appointments at the Universities of London and Zagreb and at several other universities in the USA and China. He has published more than 400 articles in scientific journals, authored or co-authored a number of books and edited many others. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of the United Kingdom, of the American College of Psychiatry, of the Royal Australian and New