Problems in certain brain areas are often associated with specific learning, behavioral or Learn Spanish
emotional problems. Understanding this principle allows clinicians to start listening for brain system problems, rather than just trying to fit people into DSM-IV diagnostic categories. For example, if there are prefrontal cortex issues, one would expect there to be executive function problems, such as short attention span, disorganization, poor planning and impulse control issues. If there are temporal lobe problems, it is likely people will exhibit struggles with memory, mood stability, word finding and temper control. If there are parietal lobe issues, people may get lost easily. Knowing about brain pathology allows clinicians to target treatments to brain areas rather than nebulous psychiatric diagnoses. With this model, clinicians develop prefrontal cortex treatments, temporal lobe treatments, etc. Most psychiatric illnesses are not single or simple disorders.Giving someone the diagnosis of major depression is akin to giving patients the diagnosis of chest pain. Why dont we give people the diagnosis of chest pain? Because chest pain is a symptom with many potential causes, such as heart or lung disease, musculoskeletal problems, abdominal or back problems, as well as grief or panic attacks. Unfortunately, in psychiatry we give people simple diagnoses, such as major depression, ADD, or bipolar disorder, that represent symptom clusters without understanding the richness of the potential underlying causes. This leads to overly simplistic treatments that Rosetta Stone Spanish Latin America
make some better and many worse. Our brain imaging work has classified six different types of ADD and seven different types of anxiety and depression. Understanding the types helps us become better at targeting treatments to specific brain areas. Imaging the brain helps mental health professionals be more effective, decreases stigma, and increases compliance for patients. Imaging the brain teaches mental health professionals to ask more informed questions. Why are psychiatrists (and I would argue that this includes all mental health professionals) the only medical professionals who never look at the organ they treat? You can try to kill yourself today in Los Angeles and virtually no one outside of our clinics will look at the patients brain. Cardiologists, orthopedists, gynecologist, gastroenterologists, and ophthalmologists all look at what they do before they do it. It would be considered malpractice in almost all areas of medicine to treat patients solely based on history and clinical examination. Yet, isnt that what we do in mental health? We have had great tools to look at brain function for more than a decade. So why dont we look? Several reasons: imaging the brain is not part of our training, experience or tradition. UC, Irvine is the only psychiatric residency program that I am aware of that teaches residents how to use imaging tools clinically. It is time to change. Thebrain is our organ and we need more information to do the best job for our clients and stop guessing at what might be the problem. The study we do in our clinic is called brain SPECT imaging. SPECT stands for single photon emission computed tomography and measures Cheap Rosetta Stone
blood flow and activity patterns in the brain. It basically tells us three things: areas of the brain that work well, areas of the brain that work too hard and areas of the brain that do not work hard enough.
2011年4月10日星期日
Understanding psychobiology is critical to taking a new view of psychiatric illness.
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