Giovanni Fava

Giovanni Andrea Fava (born 10 June 1952 in Valdagno) From 1992 to 2022, he was the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed medical journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Research Fava has authored more than 500 scientific papers and performed research in several fields. His main areas of interest have been diagnosis and treatment of affective disorders and psychosomatic medicine. Fava is known for researching the adverse effects of antidepressant drugs, such as their potential to trigger a relapse among depressed patients. In a 1994 editorial, he argued that many of his fellow psychiatrists were too hesitant to question whether a given psychiatric treatment was more harmful than it was helpful. He has also studied hypochondriasis and how it can be treated, and the frequency with which patients with medical illnesses become demoralized about their condition.

He has also developed well-being therapy, a therapy aimed at preventing patients recovering from depression from relapsing. It has been described as a method to promote psychological resilience.