Q-We are noticing that my mother cannot name the object "pen",she says whole lot of words to describe a " pen" but could not utter the word " pen".It is so puzzling, that we dont know what to do.

Ans- Please dont get puzzled, may be your mother is suffering from cognitive decline, Dementia.Please consult any Neuro-Psychiatrist nearby as soon as possible.

Qn- What is Dementia? Can we say that my mother is suffering from Alzheimer's disease?

Ans-Dementia is serious cognitive decline in a person.Alzheimers diease is
most common cause of dementia,
Alzheimer's disease is a specific form of dementia having very specific microscopic brain abnormalities.  However, in typical medical practice, we do not have the ability to see microscopic brain abnormalities.So it would be very difficult to say right at this moment, for this we must examine her and do some investigations.

QN-Dr Dasgupta my mother aged about 55 is forgeting names, even some trivial things.Is it a very alarming?

Ans- See forgetfullness in proportionate to age is not serious, but if you mind apparently your mother is foregtting disproportionately then it is very serious.It might be symptom of Dementia.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Q1 I feel low sometimes during day, occasionally I get irritated, am I a mad? Feeling low occasionally is not a disorder, moreover mad word should be seriously discarded. Psychiatric disorders are disease of brain, just like pneumonia is disease of lung. Psychiatric disorders should not be stigmatised. Complains you are mentioning are just few symptoms of stress. So long these don’t cause any socio occupational hampering these can not be fit into any disorder, still u need a thorough mental status check up by a psychiatrist or psychologist.

Q2 My son is not reading well, scoring poorly in the exam, sometimes seems dull. Presently   in class six. Though we noticed these symptoms 2-3 years ago, but we didn’t pay much attention to it. We thought it he will be ok as he gets older. What to do now? May be your son is suffering from intellectual sub normality, or some specific learning disorder. Need thorough assessment and detailed history. You need to consult nearby Psychiatrist.

Q3 My daughter behaves unusually before exam, otherwise ok.She gets irritated, becomes tensed and most of the times drops the exam and avoids the exam. What to do now? May be she is suffering from anticipatory anxiety and specific phobia like examination phobia. She needs urgent consultation with a Psychiatrist. Avoiding the exam not appearing for the exam should be seriously discouraged.

Q4 My daughter is reading in class 7, does pretty well in the exam, intelligent, cheerful and extrovert in nature, but scores poorly in the mathematics, though practises hard. What to do now? I think she needs psychiatric consultation. There is no harm in thorough psychiatric assessment. May be she has specific learning disorder like mathematics disorder which is a treatable disorder. Number of times I am mentioning that there is no harm in going to a psychiatrist. You are not to be stamped as a mad, there is no stigma attached to a mental disorder. Just like pneumonia, jaundice, malaria, heart attack, diabetes, it is a disease of brain.

Q5 My son is extremely restless and unmindful, is that a psychological problem? If your son is excessively unmindful and restless and you are receiving complaints from school, repeated guardian call on this account then it’s a serious problem. You need urgent consultation with a psychiatrist. May be he is suffering from ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Q6 My husband is non-alcoholic, but recently on repeated interval he is feeling tightness of chest, feeling as if he will die, with profuse sweating. Our GP admitted him in the nursing home ICU.ECG, holter monitoring, chest x-ray, and blood parameters are all normal. What to do now? I think you need consultation with a Psychiatrist. Sometimes Panic attacks resemble like a heart attack. Panic attack is a treatable disorder, needs early psychiatric treatment.

Q7 My wife is suffering from low back ache, pain at various parts of body. We have consulted Orthopaedic surgeon and general physician number of times. All the relevant investigations, including X-ray   and blood exams are all normal. She is not getting well, what to do now? She might be suffering from psychosomatic problems, were unexplained physical symptoms may be a manifestation of internal psychic conflicts. You need a psychiatric consultation.

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