RCN North Staffordshire learning event: Introduction to cyberpsychiatry
20 Nov 2025, 13:00 - 15:00
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This session introduces cyberpsychiatry, the study of how digital environments shape mental health, identity, and behaviour. Attendees will explore how online spaces influence cognition, emotion, and social interaction, and how these effects manifest clinically.
Presented by Dr Damon Parsons, a forensic psychiatrist specialising in the mental health implications of digital environments, this session positions the internet not merely as a technology or communication tool, but as a psychological space with its own architecture, cultures, and risks.
Dr Parsons will outline the core aims of cyberpsychiatry: to recognise new forms of psychological distress emerging from digital life; to understand phenomena such as online disinhibition, digital addiction, parasocial relationships, and algorithmic influence; and to equip clinicians and professionals with frameworks for assessment, intervention, and prevention in a digital context.
Drawing on current research and clinical examples, the session invites reflection on how psychiatry must evolve to remain relevant in the digital age - developing both critical literacy and compassionate understanding of online experience.
To register your attendance for this online learning event, please book your place here.
You will then be sent a confirmation email containing a Microsoft Teams meeting link which will enable you to join the meeting on the day.
You will need to log-in to your RCN account before booking your place. If you don't have an RCN account, it's a really simple process to create one - just follow the steps provided.
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Page last updated - 22/10/2025
