Mental Illness And Brain Disease

Abstract

It has become common to say psychiatric illnesses are brain diseases. This reflects a conception of the mental as being biologically based, though it is also thought that thinking of psychiatric illness this way will reduce the stigma attached to psychiatric illness. If psychiatric illnesses are brain diseases, however, it is not clear why psychiatry should not collapse into neurology, and some argue for this course. Others try to maintain a distinction by saying that neurology deals with abnormalities of neural structure while psychiatry deals with specific abnormalities of neural functioning. It is not clear that neurologists would accept this division, nor that they should. I argue that if we take seriously the notion that psychiatric illnesses are mental illnesses we can draw a more defensible boundary between psychiatry and neurology. As mental illnesses, psychiatric illnesses must have symptoms that affect our mental capacities and that the sufferer is capable of being aware of, even if they are not always self-consciously aware of them. Neurological illnesses, such as stroke or multiple sclerosis, may be diagnosed even if they are silent, just as the person may not be aware of having high blood pressure or may suffer a silent myocardial infarction. It does not make sense to speak of panic disorder if the person has never had a panic attack, however, or of bipolar disorder in the absence of mood swings. This does not mean psychiatric illnesses are not biologically based. Mental illnesses are illnesses of persons, whereas other illnesses are illnesses of biological individuals. Key words: mental disorders, neurology, psychiatry, diagnosisFolia Medica 2014; 56(4): 305-308 Copyright © 2014 Medical University, Plovdiv РЕЗЮМЕ Стало принято говорить, что психиатрические заболевания являются заболеваниями мозга. Это отражает концепцию психического как основаного на биологической процессах, хотя также считается, что такой взгяд на психические расстройства позволит ограничить стигматизацию психической болезни. Однако если психические расстройства являются заболеваниями головного мозга, не понятно почему психиатрию не следует редуцировать до неврологии, хотя некоторые и защищают такое развитие. Другие пытаются проводить различие, говоря, что неврология занимается аномалиями нейронной структуры в то время как психиатрия занимается конкретными нарушениями функционирования нервной системы. Не становится ясным неврологи принимают это разделение или нет. Я утверждаю, что если мы серьезно примем позицию, что психические расстройства являются психическими заболеваниями, можно сделать более оправданной границу между психиатрией и неврологией. Психиатрические заболевания должны иметь ментальные симптомы, которые оказывают влияние на наши умственные способности , и которые больной находится в состоянии понимать, даже если они не всегда сознательны. Неврологические заболевания, такие как инсульт или мултипленный склероз, могут вести за собой диагноз, даже если они находятся в латентном состоянии. К примеру, человек мож...

The Effects of Mobile Learning and Group Discussion for Psychotropic Drug Education on Nursing Students’ Learning, Satisfaction, and Attitude: An Educational Intervention

“…These drugs directly affect a person's behavior and performance. Each category of psychiatric drugs has other uses in addition to the main use (6,7). Therefore, due to the increasing complexity and wide range of treatment options of these drugs, the treatment team must be aware of potential side effects, drug interactions, and how to treat unwanted consequences.…”

O entendimento da dependência química por pacientes em tratamento em uma unidade de internação especializada

“…Bedrick 16 , por outro lado, argumenta que parece haver uma tendência ao consenso na adoção do modelo da adição como doença do cérebro. A utilização desse modelo, segundo o autor, traz importantes consequências para a prática das ciências do comportamento: por exemplo, a abordagem dos múltiplos aspectos da vulnerabilidade e da própria psiquiatria, sendo entendida, com base nesse modelo, na qualidade de neurociência clínica (16). Não se trata, portanto, de negar os aspectos biológicos da adição, mas de discutir a adequação do modelo aos conhecimentos disponíveis [13][14][15][16][17][18] .…”

“…A utilização desse modelo, segundo o autor, traz importantes consequências para a prática das ciências do comportamento: por exemplo, a abordagem dos múltiplos aspectos da vulnerabilidade e da própria psiquiatria, sendo entendida, com base nesse modelo, na qualidade de neurociência clínica (16). Não se trata, portanto, de negar os aspectos biológicos da adição, mas de discutir a adequação do modelo aos conhecimentos disponíveis [13][14][15][16][17][18] .…”