Søren Dinesen Østergaard from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital recieves the Erhoff Foundation’s Talent Prize. The award is being made for developing a new method for measuring the severity of psychotic depression.

2016.05.23 | Helle Horskjær Hansen

Søren Dinesen Østergaard the Erhoff Foundation’s Talent Prize. The prize is awarded to particularly talented researchers under the age of 40, and includes a check for DKK 50,000.

When a depression is accompanied by hallucinations or delusions, often with a depressive theme, then the pathological picture is termed psychotic depression.

As a newly qualified doctor in the psychiatric field, Søren Dinesen Østergaard became aware of the fact that there was no method to measure the severity of psychotic depression. The young medical doctor decided to develop a method for doing this.

Søren Dinesen Østergaard's research resulted in the first rating scale for psychotic depression, which was called the Psychotic Depression Assessment Scale.
This contribution, among others, is the reason why Søren Dinesen Østergaard is receiving the Erhoff Foundation's Talent Prize. The prize is awarded to particularly talented researchers under the age of 40, and includes a check for DKK 50,000.

High risk of suicide

The severity of mental disorders is measured by a specialist evaluating each symptom following a structured interview with the patient, before giving a score on a fixed scale depending on the severity. When the scores from the individual symptoms are added together, the resulting number expresses the overall severity of the disease. The rating scale is already available in six different languages.

“I feel very honoured to receive this award. It's really nice to see your work gain recognition beyond the walls of the university. I’m particularly pleased that it’s been possible to establish a rating scale that is now accessible for doctors and other professional groups in psychiatric hospitals around the world. This means that my research is benefiting the patients, which is precisely its purpose," says the recipient. 

The risk of suicide in connection with psychotic depression is quite high, in particular because of delusions about guilt and disease.

“It’s extremely important to be aware of the severity of these patients' symptoms," says Søren Dinesen Østergaard, explaining the background for the Psychotic Depression Assessment Scale.

Søren Dinesen Østergaard is associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine and works at the Research Unit for Psychoses, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov.

The prize will be awarded at a ceremony on 12 May 2016 at the Carlsberg Academy in Copenhagen.

Further information

MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Søren Dinesen Østergaard
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital Department for Psychosis and Schizophrenia P, Risskov
Telephone: (+45) 6128 2753
Email: soeoes@rm.dk