"LostBoyinNC" <deepsand562 at aol.comInsane> wrote in message
news:20020908002538.05251.00000649 at mb-bh.aol.com...
> There would be tons of hoopla, lots of bitching and moaning. Ive thought
about
> it and one of the biggest obstacles to formally merging psychiatry into
> Neurology is the fact that the mental health field is a professional
career
> field that pays quite well. There are a lot of people who make their
living as
> psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. If there job was
transferred
> over to Neurology, they'd be left without jobs, psychiatrists would be
left
> without their $200,000 a year lucrative private practices. Needless to
say,
> there would be a lot of institutional resistance to this concept of
merging
> psychiatry into Neurology.
>> Another obstacle lies within Neurology itself. From my understanding,
currently
> Neurologists dont want to treat the severely mentally ill and they are
> satisfied leaving this job up to psychiatry. This attitude has to be
changed in
> the future. The mentality in Neurology of "unless it manifests itself
> physically, we dont want to deal with it." In other words Neurology only
wants
> to deal with problems of walking, movement, balance, speech, head
injuries,
> dementia, etc.
>> But what about when you have a severe case of mental illness and the
person has
> severe sleep dysfunction? Sleep is clearly a nervous system controlled
bodily
> function. Neurologists study sleep and run the sleep labs, not
psychiatrists.
> What about when a person with severe mental illness has severe cognitive
> problems? Thats clearly neurological, not psychological.
>> The time has come for these fields to formally merge, one way or another.
But
> the question is HOW? Its going to be no easy task, with opposition on both
> sides.
>> I personally believe this problem could be handled best if outside people
were
> brought in. I believe our nations top leaders need to become directly
> interested and involved in this issue. Senator Pete Domenici of NM is the
only
> one I know of who seems personally interested in real mental illness
reform. We
> have got to get some people elected who have personal interest in this. I
dont
> believe it will be fixed by trying to push it up from the bottom, its got
to be
> dropped from a height instead.
>> Im wondering if Senator John Edwards (Democrat) of North Carolina might be
a
> man to help this problem along? Edwards is very interested in healthcare
reform
> and if the idea was presented to him intelligently, he might adopt the
merge
> psychiatry into Neurology cause. There are rumors he will be running for
> president in 2004, and frankly as articulate as the guy is, I wouldnt be
> surprised if he wins.
>> Anyway, excuse me for ranting. There arent a lot of places left on the
Internet
> anymore where you can have these sorts of discussions without being
castigated
> and jumped all over on.
>> Eric
>> Basic course in logic 101:
>> Psychiatry is bullshit...psychiatrists are full of shit
>
Ever heard of Neuropsychiatry (a specialization of psychiatry) ??
Behavioral Neurology (a specialization of neurology)? Of course these fields
specialize in the relationship of psychiatric or behavioral manifestations
of organic brain disease/injury. In terms of your proposed merge of
neurology and psychiatry there is yet no completely unequivicol proof that
mental illnesses themselves are neurologic disorders. Also, asking a doctor
to know all of the information contained in both psychiatry and neurology
would be equivelent to asking a surgeon to specialize in all forms of
surgery