Abstract
The advancement of research, discovery of new antipsychotic, antidepressant, mood stabilizer and antiepileptic drugs has created a ray of hope for the sufferer of psychiatric illnesses that they will be benefited
more then ever and their life style will be changed in a n
better way than the past. The stigma attached to psychiatry is also on decline since last many years resulting in increased patients comfort to meet the psychiatrist. These all together has changed the scenario of
psychiatry globally and specially in Pakistan.
The future of psychiatry is bound to change sooner
than expected, with rapid development in psychopharmacogenetics investigative and genetics fields
also. Already a biological test panel is being proposed
for major depression as well as a test to select cases
of schizophrenia, which will respond to Clozapine.[1]
Living in these times we feel the turnover from an art,
which was ‘psychiatry for the functional disorder’, to a
fact based science in which there will be ‘organic underpinnings’ well identified and well defined. It’s
probably an era of neurosciences.[2,3] Now understanding psychiatry is not merely to diagnose the diseases and prescribe drugs to eliminate symptoms but
its is to treat total human being with complete restoration of functionality with psychological assessment.
Henry Nasrallah in the February issue of Current Psychiatry 2012 describes 6 trends that will affect the
practice of psychiatry.[4]
Earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Genetic discoveries.
Targeting of neuro plasticity.
Neurostimulation, as in VNS, TMS, DBS.
Psychopharmacogenetics.
Intertwining of physical and mental disorders.
What all of the above means that the disease may be
treated in Prodrome, (may be treated) and prognosis
may improve beyond our expectations. The discovery
of genes associated with serious psychiatric disorders.
Neuregulin 1, dysbindin, DISC1, DAOA (G72),
PRODH and COMT are among the many odd sounding genes located on various chromosomes.
These discoveries confirm the ‘complex genetics’ of
psychiatric disorders.[5]
Soon it will be leading to the holy grail of psychiatric
treatment: specific, biotechnology-driven, disease modifying pharmacotherapeutics rather than merely
symptom-control agents.
M. Munir Hamirani, Mohan Lal Luhano. (2012) Future Perspective of Psychiatry, Journal of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Volume-11, Issue-1.
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