This inaugural inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference aims to identify and explore the rapidly expanding and worryingly increasing conditions of depression, stress and anxiety (DSA) as they affect the way people live and think today. The implications for clinicians, healers, patients, sufferers and care givers will also be assessed.

The project will take as its starting point the view that depression, stress and anxiety are multi-layered phenomena present in all levels and aspects of human living. Understanding these phenomena necessarily involves understanding all the various contexts in which a person lives and works. DSA has components which belong to a person's age, gender, ethnicity, social group, work place; each component combines to interact with the others. Inter- and multi-disciplinary insights and perspectives are required to begin to form a holistic understanding of DSA in the context of persons, interpersonal relationships and their living environments.

We warmly welcome papers from a variety of disciplines, professions, vocations and other backgrounds which attempt to make sense of DSA. In particular papers, practical workshops, reports, and presentations are invited on making sense of DSA in relation to any of the following themes;

• age
• ethnicity
• gender
• work
• transport
• children
• school
• retirement
• social isolation
• poverty
• relationships
• disability
• representations of DSA in literature, film, tv, theatre and radio
• representations of DSA in music

Papers dealing with DSA in the contexts of programmes, training courses and educational activities are welcome. Papers are also solicited for special sessions which will be held in common with a second research project running at the same time entitled Making Sense Of: Humour and Healing. Papers dealing with these cross subject themes are encouraged.

Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 28th January 2005. If your paper is accepted for presentation at the conference, an 8 page draft paper should be submitted by Friday 15th April 2005.

Abstracts should be submitted to the Joint Organizing Chairs as an email attachment in Word or WordPerfect; abstracts can also be submitted in the body of the email text rather than as an attachment.

The conference is part of a larger series of ongoing conferences entitled Probing the Boundaries. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.

All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be published as an ISBN eBook. Selected papers accepted for and presented at this conference will be published in a hard copy themed volume. Two eBooks and four themed volumes are available and/or in press from other meetings of the Making Sense Of: projects.

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