Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Practice

A patient's journey: living with paranoid schizophrenia

BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38968.608275.AE (Published 21 September 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:636

Rapid Response:

evolution of medicine

I firstly extend an apology to those whom suffered from major
psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis
from a doctor who has prescribed major psychotic drugs...what these drugs
did was to suppress/change neurotransmitters concentrations in the
brain...end result was to suppress brain function to different extents and
which may have suppressed prolific symptoms but made the person a little
better that 'a walking robot'...lacking ability to live the basic of human
life including building meaningful relationships...

But I offer hope for the future as well...as its slowly but surely
becoming clearer that these illness are actually disorders of
emotions...and if one can call all areas of the brain that codes for
recognizing, remembering and responding with emotion as 'the emotional
brain'...so its illness of the emotional brain...

As such the fundamental and primary medical role is to establish a
trusting dependable relationship to a much higher mark that usual and to
be readily available...yes a huge demand on careers and only for those
special people who understand, empathize and willing...which will advance
patients improvement and ease the suffering at those darkest of moments
when the body is in full flight negative emotions of fear, dread, and
disconnected with the world and its apparently smiling happy people...

Sam

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

10 March 2008
Sam Srikantha
ex-medical officer
Australia 3185