The Secret to Solving Behavior Problems

I’ve always been a skeptic when it comes to mental health diagnoses. Diagnosing by symptom cluster seems so inaccurate. Even more alarming is that those symptom clusters are often self-assessed…by a person with a mental health struggle. <scratching head>

Does anyone else see the irony in diagnosing a person based on self-assessment who is a self-proclaimed pathological liar?

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Then there’s the problem of overlapping symptom clusters. What do you do with a child who often does not follow through with instructions, has impulse control issues, is emotionally volatile, has difficulty problem solving, and struggles with relationships? Based on this chart, he could have FASD, Autism, and/or Bi-Polar disorder.

Even if someone is willing to make a definitive diagnosis, then what?

If FASD is suspected, “There’s no cure or specific treatment for fetal alcohol syndrome. The physical defects and mental deficiencies typically persist for a lifetime.” [1]  Basically, you just arm yourself with coping mechanisms. Treatment for those on the Autism spectrum usually consists of therapies to help minimize the impact of the behavior symptoms. Sometimes nutrition or medication therapies are also used.[2]  Traditional bi-polar treatment consists of medication and various forms of psychotherapy.[3]

The treatment modalities have few overlaps compared to the symptom clusters. It’s very possible to mistreat.

Enter brain imaging. You need to watch this video. It should probably play periodically on the emergency broadcast channel as a PSA.

We have been blessed to find a practice that uses brain imaging and is helping us connect what we see behaviorally with information about what is actually happening (or not happening) in Ty’s brain.

Here are some key highlights with approximate time stamps and my commentary…

4:30 Diagnostics in psychiatry haven’t changed since the 1800’s and continue to be just symptom-based.

See discussion above on why this is so concerning.

5:00 “Psychiatrists are the only medical specialists that virtually never look at the organ they treat. Psychiatrists guess.”

It’s okay if you need to pause here and just let this sink in. It boggles my mind that psychiatrists were criticized for wanting to use imaging technology.

6:15 The same symptom clusters can come from completely different brains.

This make sense. Like vomiting can be caused by food poisoning or a virus. Same symptom, different “brain.”

6:48 Mild traumatic brain injuries is a major cause of psychiatric illness.

How many people have had a solid bump of the head and went on with life and never thought anything of it? And certainly didn’t link it to any mental health struggles. When we did our intake for our children’s brain imaging, I was shocked at the bumps and bruises they were able to jog out of our memory banks and, further, that they thought those things could be contributing to behavior symptoms.

9:00 The link between criminal behavior and troubled brains begs the question, “What if we evaluated and treated troubled brains instead of warehousing them in toxic, stressful environments?” The research shows that troubled brains can be rehabilitated.

Treating troubled kids with behavior modification and medication is like putting a paraplegic on meds and a walking program and then jailing them when it doesn’t work. Further, so many conditions that we’ve generally assumed were incurable, may actually have a path to rehabilitation. Imagine the possibilities.

Was this video an impactful to you as it was for me? In my next post, I’ll chat about how brain imaging has shaped our treatment plan and why I think having a diagnosis could still be important.

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In the meantime, please help get the word out about brain imaging in psychiatry. The future and safety of our children and our world depend on it.

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