Optimal psychiatric treatment: Target the brain and avoid the body

Abstract

Editor Psychotherapy should be reclassified as a 'verbal neuromodulation' technique

Reimagining psychiatric assessment and interventions as procedures

“…3 • Psychotherapy: A neuromodulation procedure for a variety of psychiatric disorders. 4 • Neurobiological facelift: It is well established that neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and dendritic spine sprouting are significantly increased with both neuroprotective psychotropic medications (antidepressants, lithium, valproate, and second-generation antipsychotics 5 ) as well as with psych otherapy. There is growing evidence of "premature brain aging" in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, with shrinkage in the volume of the cortex and subcortical regions, especially the hippocampus.…”

Contemporary psychiatry: A SWOT analysis

“…• Novel mechanisms of action and treatment strategies are being introduced on a regular basis for psychotic and mood disorders 5,6 • Advances in neuromodulation techniques to treat a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders, including electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, deep brain stimulation, cranial electric stimulation, epidural cortical stimulation, focused ultrasound, low field magnetic stimulation, magnetic seizure therapy, and near infrared light therapy, with mechanisms that are electric, ultrasound, magnetic, or optical 7,8 • Psychiatric physicians develop wisdom by practicing psychiatry (ie, they become more empathic, tolerant of ambiguity, prosocial, introspective, aware of one's strengths and limitations). Neuroplasticity in the frontal cortex is triggered by conducting psychotherapy 9…”