The integration of psychiatry and neurology — in other words, mental care and brain care — is inevitable to disentangle the amalgamation of complex epileptic problems and to identify effective therapeutic treatments, Kousuke Kanemoto of Aichi Medical University, Akita, Japan, said.
“Many epileptic cases represent an amalgamation of complex social and psychological issues — not just brain malfunctions, thus necessitating extra medical care such as job coaching and psychotherapy,” he said. He was delivering the 16th M.V. Arunachalam Endowment Lecture on “Brainstorms and the Mind: Exploring the Borderlands Between Epilepsy and Schizophrenia”.
Dr. Kanemoto pointed out that the Japan Epilepsy Society was formed by a psychiatrist in the mid-1970s, when about 60% of its members were psychiatrists and the rest were neurologists.
However, in the recent times, the percentage of psychiatrists among the members of the society had come down to just 5, Dr. Kanemoto said.
A. Vellayan, former executive chairman, Murugappa Group, and trustee, Vellayan Chettiar Trust, presided and Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, founder, Neurokrish, Trimed, which organised the event, welcomed the gathering.
Mr. Vellayan launched a dedicated Mobile Therapy Unit donated by the Murugappa Group to the “Buddhi on Wheels” programme, which addresses the twin challenges of mobility and mental health that most people with neurological disability face across the lifespan, according to a release.