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While the human brain is viewed as the most sophisticated and complex system in the known universe, it requires specialists from highly specialized fields of study to assist when things go wrong. So, who to see when something goes wrong with the brain?
The following fields of study are the obvious choices:
A psychologist deals with mental issues such as behaviour problems and emotional disturbances of the mind.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in evaluating patients to determine whether their symptoms result from a physical illness, or a combination of physical and mental ailments, or whether they are strictly mental issues. A psychiatrist can prescribe psychiatric medication.
A neurologist is a medical doctor who specializes in treating neurological disorders of the nervous system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
But what happens when the symptoms and nature of the illnesses blur the line between psychiatry and neurology, for instance behaviour problems resulting from a brain injury? After all, the mind and the brain are one. To the rescue comes a fairly unknown, but growing, area of specialization, namely neuropsychiatry.
What is neuropsychiatry?
Neuropsychiatry is a subspeciality of psychiatry, with the addition of neurology to psychiatry, that bridges the gap between psychiatry and neurology.
A neuropsychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental disorders that can be attributed to disorders of the nervous system. With specific further training in neurology, they better understand the underpinnings of neurological and psychiatric disorders, particularly those neurological disorders that affect behaviour.
Role of the neuropsychiatrist:
Treating the neurological condition is the role of the neurologist, while the neuropsychiatrist focuses on mental health disorders that arise from the neurological condition, affecting the patient’s behaviour and cognition. They are trained to manage the neurobehavioural and neurocognitive symptoms of neurological disease and improve the patient’s functionality, both from traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries.
Traumatic brain injuries, from inside or outside the skull, can cause mental health disorders and changes in the person’s personality, such as affecting their moods and causing anxiety or even resulting in bipolar or psychosis conditions, or cognitive impairment.
Non-traumatic brain injuries can also lead to mental health disorders, for example brain injuries resulting from stroke, epilepsy, infections, or autoimmune conditions.
Although determining the correct medication for the patient is important, the most important role of the neuropsychiatrist is to identify and diagnose the condition and administering the required therapies, along with educating the patient and families about the nature of the condition and the overall treatment plan.
Conclusions:
Within the field of neuropsychiatry, the mind is seen as an integral part of the brain, while the field of neurology focusses on pathology of the nervous system and psychiatry focusses on illnesses of the mind, and they may approach the brain and mind as separate entities. By joining them and going beyond neurology and psychiatry, as both are dealing with disorders of the same system, neuropsychiatry can be effectively used to reduce human suffering.
Which begs the question, are there sufficient numbers of neuropsychiatrists in clinical practice?
References:
What is neuropsychiatry? Published 13 May 2022. American University of Antiqua College of Medicine. (www.auamed.org)
Neuropsychiatrist. Published online. Royal College of Psychiatrists. U K. (www.rcpsych.ac.uk)
Neuropsychiatry filling a gap at Mediclinic Morningside. Published 12 June 2023. The Future of Healthcare. Mediclinic. (www.thefutureofhealthcare.co.za)
Neuropsychiatry. Published online. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. (www.wikipedia.org)
Neuropsychiatry. Published online. Britannica. (www.brotannica.com)
HEALTH INSIGHT
July 2023