MENTAL DISORDERS

Psychiatric disorders:

                                               1.  Mental disorders are common in medical practice and may present as a primary disorder or associated with another medical condition. Like a heart or a cancer patient might have depression. Around thirty percent of Americans have mental or substance use disorders but only one third of them is receiving treatment. In India the statistics are not available but the treating doctor must consider psychiatric conditions, if routine investigations are normal. A detail family history of mental illness and family background are very much necessary while treating a single child family member. Mental illnesses are common both in effluent as well as poor families but more so amongst the over protected family members. A doctor of any specialty or super-specialty, usually have a narrow tubular vision which gets confined to his or her specialty. After squeezing out his entire client’s money he refers it to a psychiatrist. Our people(Indian) have a wrong notion-psychiatric means mad fellow, hence they avoid going to a psychiatric clinic more so if the patient is a girl or lady.(to be continued)