The Cybernetics of Mental Disorders as a Bridge Between Palliative Care and Palliative Psychiatry-A Narrative Review

Background: Palliative psychiatry as a new subfield of practice focuses on the care of patients with severe, chronic mental diseases. The aim is to improve the quality of life of those affected and alleviate their suffering. The cybernetic approach can be used to achieve these goals. Materials and methods: This narrative study aims to present palliative psychiatry from a cybernetic perspective. To this end, it examines how and whether these concepts are already being used in related fields such as palliative care and general psychiatry. Finally, it discusses the implications of this for palliative psychiatry. The focus is also on schizophrenia and depression. Cybernetic terms were entered along with the terms "schizophrenia" and "depression" in the PubMed and PubPsych databases. In addition, articles and books on psychological terms, such as affect logic, vulnerability, and comorbidity, were used in a snowball system. Results: In recent decades, general psychiatry has dealt with all of the cybernetic terms examined in this study. Palliative psychiatry has only been oriented towards palliative care and has used its cybernetic terms. However, no other cybernetic terms were used. Articles on palliative care for patients with schizophrenia show that palliative psychiatry initially addresses problems that have been known for over ten years. In the case of depression, only studies on palliative care outside the field of psychiatry have been published. Conclusions: The integration of cybernetic concepts could provide palliative psychiatry with a theoretical foundation that goes beyond the previous borrowings from palliative care. This opens up new possibilities for better understanding complex disease progression, especially in schizophrenia and depression, and providing therapeutic support.