Behavioral neurology and mental illness?

[MysteryDiagnosis]

Can a behavioral neurologist treat certain mental illness such as schizophrenia? Or are they only allowed treat behavioral/ cognitive symptoms that result from a known lesion or pathology in the nervous system?

With that being said, couldn't schizophrenia technically be considered a "functional neurological disease" since professionals and scientists know there are neurobiological components but haven't pinpointed any structural deficits (as of yet)?

Also, in behavioral neurology, do behavioral neurologists take into account evironmental or social factors since these can infuence behaviors and emotions?

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[liquidshadow22]

neurologists do not see any schizophrenia patients during residency. If you want to treat this illness, you need to do a psychiatry residency.

 

[MysteryDiagnosis]

neurologists do not see any schizophrenia patients during residency. If you want to treat this illness, you need to do a psychiatry residency.

Why don't neurologists have even a little training with this disorder since it is largely neurological?

 

[typhoonegator]

Why don't neurologists have even a little training with this disorder since it is largely neurological?

It's not like someone snaps their fingers and decides that schizophrenia is now within the domain of neurology. The field of neurobiology is relatively nimble. Medicine is an applied science and changes very slowly. The dogma of schizophrenia as an organic brain disease is fairly new in the grand scheme. And even if you define schizophrenia as a structural brain disease, that doesn't mean that psychiatrists aren't better trained to manage it with skills and medications that overlap with many of the other conditions they manage.

 

[kchan99]

Can a behavioral neurologist treat certain mental illness such as schizophrenia? Or are they only allowed treat behavioral/ cognitive symptoms that result from a known lesion or pathology in the nervous system?

Even in the case of a severe depression in the setting of an organic disease, such as a Parkinson disease, a neurologist will request a psych consult.

 

[MysteryDiagnosis]

It's not like someone snaps their fingers and decides that schizophrenia is now within the domain of neurology. The field of neurobiology is relatively nimble. Medicine is an applied science and changes very slowly. The dogma of schizophrenia as an organic brain disease is fairly new in the grand scheme. And even if you define schizophrenia as a structural brain disease, that doesn't mean that psychiatrists aren't better trained to manage it with skills and medications that overlap with many of the other conditions they manage.

True, it does appear that "mental illness" lies on a continuum... some are more social or environmental in nature (such as someone being depressed due to divorce) and others are more neurological in nature (ie, schozophrenia).

With that said, even if a specific lesion or structural deficit can't be found in a mental illness such as schizophrenia, it technically could be classified as a "functional neurological disease" no? Since it's known that it has neurobiological routes but structural deficits have not been found.

 

[typhoonegator]

Regardless of how you classify it, who is in a better position to manage the symptoms, which are essentially entirely psychiatric?

 

[Thama]

Yet another thread where the basic premise is "can I treat (insert disorder X here) as a neurologist despite it being completely outside of the purview of the field of neurology and much better managed by someone with a radically different training paradigm?"

It's not like neurologists aren't busy enough trying to figure out the incredibly broad and complex field they have already, they definitely need to be taking over most of psychiatry, neurosurgery, interventional radiology, diagnostic radiology, surgical oncology, aviation medicine, and probably ****ing astrophysics while they're at it.

 

[MysteryDiagnosis]

Yet another thread where the basic premise is "can I treat (insert disorder X here) as a neurologist despite it being completely outside of the purview of the field of neurology and much better managed by someone with a radically different training paradigm?"

It's not like neurologists aren't busy enough trying to figure out the incredibly broad and complex field they have already, they definitely need to be taking over most of psychiatry, neurosurgery, interventional radiology, diagnostic radiology, surgical oncology, aviation medicine, and probably ****ing astrophysics while they're at it.

Wow, just a question. Relaxx