Psychiatry has been heard by many people as threatening or far away, but it turns out that quite a few people, including well-known and respected people, are assisted by a psychiatrist throughout their lives.
The first stage in receiving advice or treatment from a psychiatrist is the performance of a psychiatric diagnosis parallel to the medical diagnosis performed by a physician in any other field of treatment.
Prof. Kotler A respected psychiatrist explains how a psychiatric diagnosis is performed and what it includes?
Assembling a puzzle for accurate psychiatric diagnosis
If a medical diagnosis is made by an eye doctor or dermatologist, the doctor can see the problem in a tangible way. The psychiatrist can not see the person being diagnosed directly, but draw conclusions about his mental state indirectly, based on other data.
Therefore, it is important to perform the psychiatric diagnosis in a rigorous and thorough manner and to collect as much data as possible using a variety of tools available to the psychiatrist.
When will a psychiatric diagnosis be made?
Psychiatric diagnosis is often the first step in treating a person who approaches a psychiatrist for help. The diagnosis is made in order to define the problems the patient is dealing with and find the best treatment for him. However, psychiatric diagnosis is required in various cases in which a person is tried and there is no doubt that he is qualified for this because of his mental state.
The stages of psychiatric diagnosis
Diagnosis is a complex process in which there is an attempt to examine the patient in order to get to know his soul best.
After an in-depth acquaintance with him, it will be possible to analyze the reasons that led him to his mental state and find the best treatment.
Diagnostic stages:
Medical history: Includes biographical details about the patient such as name, age, marital status, occupational status and mother tongue.
Personal history such as whether there were complications at birth, the child's childhood: his development, his relationships with his parents, education and employment, relationships, whether there was an experience with drugs and alcohol.
Information about psychotherapy in the past: If there were diagnoses and drug treatments.
This stage also includes gathering information from people close to the patient.
Checking the current state of mind: Testing a person's mental state, as stated, is complex and includes collecting many data and assembling them like a puzzle to get a complete picture.
The data are collected by means of psychological tests, observation of how the patient behaves and coping with situations in daily life, his appearance, his attitude and manner of behavior, his way of thinking, the content of his thoughts and his cognitive state, his state of memory, His ability to concentrate and more.
Physical examination: There is a mutual connection between mental health problems and physical problems: There are medical problems that are more common among people with mental health problems and vice versa - there are medical problems that can lead to psychiatric problems.
The physical examination will examine a number of measures such as blood pressure, heart rate, BMI , lymphatic state. Blood and urine tests will also be conducted to check the condition of vitamin B12, which can cause memory problems, thyroid activity, calcium and other minerals that can also affect the state of mind.
Psychiatric diagnosis for hospitalization
Psychiatric diagnosis is also used for hospitalization. Whether a person comes to the hospital voluntarily or compulsively, he must undergo a diagnosis beforehand.
Forced testing can be defined as urgent or non-urgent, depending on whether the patient poses immediate danger to himself or his environment. In any case, a forced examination will be carried out when that person refuses to be examined by a psychiatrist. When a diagnosis is made before or within the framework of hospitalization, beyond the psychiatrist are also participated nurses specializing in psychiatry, social workers, psychologists and more.