Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans
Published on: December 18, 2016
[Disease--defence--manipulation: the difficulties in providing forensic-psychiatry opinions]
Janusz Heitzman1, Małgorzata Opio, Ewa Waszkiewicz-Białek
1Klinika Psychiatrii Sadowej Instytutu Psychiatrii i Neurologii w Warszawie.
Abstract:
The challenges met by the psychiatrist and the psychologist and the difficulties in providing forensic-psychiatry and forensic-psychology opinions have been reviewed, based on examples. The studied patient was hospitalised 10 times and the forensic-psychiatry opinion passed 15 times during the judiciary process. Different psychiatric diagnoses were made and different soundness of mind were passed. The psychiatric health status were expresses by professors of psychiatry who did not participate directly in passing the forensic-psychiatry opinion. The studied patient was examined by other specialists and assessed by certificating medical doctors with the aim of getting disability pension benefits. The effect of medical certificates and testimonials from different medical doctors were analysed. Analysing this example, revealed the problem of proper formulation of content of medical documents to support the medical diagnosis and declared soundness of mind during the passing of forensic-psychiatry opinion. The doctors treating the patients and doctors passing opinion on the treated patient had a different assessment of the diagnoses and soundness of mind for the studied patients. Irrespective of the immediate aim of the examinations, all professionals providing assessment should mind the consequences of opinions passed by them and especially, the possibility of the opinion being used by the subject to prolong the judiciary process or even avoid legal responsibility. The independence (sovereignty) of the expert requires consideration in the context of prior multiple forensic-psychiatry opinion leaders in the field of psychiatry and the need for the expert to assume an attitude towards these opinions.
Related Concept Videos
Psychosurgery
Historical Development of Psychosurgery
In the 1930s, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure designed...
Disorders of the Nervous Tissue
Homeostatic Imbalances:
Alzheimer's disease manifests as a gradual decline in memory and cognitive abilities, attributed to the buildup of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain.
Parkinson's disease arises from the...
Treatment Strategies for Psychological Disorders
Psychological therapies focus on modifying emotions, thoughts, and behaviors through talking, interpreting, listening, rewarding, challenging, and modeling. Clinical psychologists, counselors, and social workers commonly practice psychotherapy. Clinical...
Psychosis: Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Researchers have identified genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, underscoring the intricate interplay between genetics and environment in disease development. At the core of schizophrenia's pathophysiology is excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission within the...
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Personality Disorders: Paranoid and Schizoid
Paranoid Personality Disorder
Paranoid personality disorder is...

