[Psychological and psychiatric care for hereditary brain disorders]

Hereditary neurological disorders are characterised by a combination of neurocognitive, neuropsychiatric and somatic symptoms, with average onset in mid-adulthood. Offspring of gene carriers is at risk of developing the disorder. Patients, partners and family members may present with various psychological problems that engender several care demands throughout life. For physicians and other medical professionals who occasionally come across these disorders it may be difficult to find adequate care. We describe two patients to illustrate the importance of specialised, multidisciplinary psychological and psychiatric care. First, we present a 43-year-old female patient with Huntington's disease who has had long-time psychiatric problems with a strong negative impact on her life and that of her spouse and children. Second, we present a 31-year-old female gene carrier of CADASIL who has psychological problems that are leading to uncertainty about whether the disease process has started.