Joint EPA/ESRS/FENS Webinar- Sleep as a Lifestyle Factor for Mental Health across the Lifespan

Date: 20 March 2026
Time: 16:30-17:30 CET
Webinar Topic: Sleep as a Lifestyle Factor for Mental Health across the Lifespan

As part of the ESRS Sleep Awareness Month 2026, and in recognition of 2026 Brain Awareness Week, the EPA, ESRS and FENS are pleased to announce the webinar “Sleep as a Lifestyle Factor for Mental Health across the Lifespan”, taking place on Friday, 20 March 2026, from 16:30 to 17:30 CET.

Key learning objectives

• Analyse the relationships between sleep, lifestyle behaviours (e.g. physical activity, diet, substance use), and mental health across the lifespan.
• Discuss the impact of sleep in people with severe mental disorders.
• Identify core principles of “lifestyle psychiatry” and sleep-focused interventions that can be integrated into routine psychiatric assessment, prevention, and treatment planning.

Programme

16:30 – 16:35 | Geert Dom – Welcome and Introduction
16:35 – 16:40 | Martin Dresler – Context and Introduction of Speakers
16:40 – 16:55 | Laura Palagini – Sleep, insomnia and mental health across the lifespan: discussing a position  from European task force of experts and revisiting the importance of insomnia and of its management in psychopathology
16:55 – 17:10 | Vladyslav Vyazovskiy – Title TBC
17:10 – 17:25 | Q&A and Discussion
17:25 – 17:30 | Geert Dom & Martin Dresler – Wrap-up and conclusions

Abstract

Most mental disorders arise from alterations in brain structure and function, with many having their onset in youth and adolescence. In parallel, people with severe mental disorders experience a marked mortality gap of 15–20 years compared with the general population, largely driven by physical comorbidities, adverse lifestyle behaviours, and systemic barriers to care.

This joint webinar by the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), and the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) will explore how sleep and lifestyle interact with brain development and mental health across the lifespan. Speakers will review current knowledge on the neurobiology of sleep, its role in brain maturation and maintenance, and its impact on symptoms in major psychiatric conditions.

The webinar will also address lifestyle behaviours as modifiable risk and protective factors, highlighting new concepts in lifestyle psychiatry and their implications for multimorbidity and premature mortality in severe mental disorders. Practical examples will be provided on how to address sleep and lifestyle in clinical practice, and how to foster closer collaboration between psychiatry, neurology, neuroscience, and primary care.

Target audience

• Psychiatrists, mental health professionals and people with lived experience
• Neurologists, sleep physicians, and sleep technologists
• Neuroscientists and sleep researchers
• General practitioners and other physicians involved in mental healthcare

Moderators

• Geert Dom, EPA Past-President, University of Antwerp, Multiversum Psychiatric Center, Boechout, Belgium – Biography
• Martin Dresler, Member of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence, Donders Institute Sleep & Memory Lab, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands – Biography