Clinical presentations in neuropsychiatry.

Abstract

In this report, the special clinical presentations found in neuropsychiatry are discussed. The point is made that conventional diagnostic schedules such as DSM-IV do not serve neuropsychiatry well, and have contributed to a failure to view neuropsychiatry as an independent specialist discipline. In this review some of the characteristic neuropsychiatric syndromes seen in epilepsy, movement disorders, demyelinating, and cerebrovascular diseases are described, followed by a brief discussion of conversion disorder. A plea is made that any future diagnostic schedules contain references to neuropsychiatric disorders and presentations.