Psychiatric disorders in neurology

Psychiatric disorders (PDs) in neurology are more frequent then it verified in routine exam, not only in the less developed but also in large and very developed neurological departments. Furthermore, psychiatric symptoms (PSs) in neurological disorders (NDs) among primary health care physicians and other specialties are often neglected. Anxiety and depression are most common, but hallucinations, delusions, obsessive-compulsive disorder and delirium or confusional state are also frequent comorbidity in many neurological conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson disease (PD). Depression and NDs also have a bidirectional relationship, as not only are patients, for example with stroke at greater risk of developing depression, but patients with depression have a two-fold greater risk of developing a stroke, even after controlling for other risk factors. Dementia or cognitive impairment are part of clinical picture of PD, stroke patients, patients with MS, Huntington disease etc. The prototype of dementia in PD and other NDs is a dysexecutive syndrome with impaired attention, executive functions and secondarily impaired memory. So-called "functional" (or psychogenic or hysterical/conversion) symptoms are relatively infrequent in "neurological" conditions, but very often unrecognized and not properly treated. Treatment of PSs in neurology, basically are not different then treatment of these symptoms in psychiatry and should be include pharmacotherapy and psychiatry. This presentation gives an overview of frequency and type of PSs underlying necessity to recognize these disorders in every day routine exam and properly treatment.