A friend is seeing a psychologist / psychiatrist. We think it's a physiological / neurological problem.?

Question

A friend recognized that his sister had had the same symptoms but was diagnosed for brain hemorrhages.

Our friend had suffered from an episode of paralysis down one side when she was 17. She is now 28.

About 3 years ago she had episodes where she zoned out. Here eyes became bloodshot, she was not aware of where she was, if you passed your finger in front of her face her eyes would only follow a few seconds later. This could last from a couple of minutes to twenty minutes. She apparently had a “mental breakdown”. I believe the problem was diagnosed as a reaction to stressful situations and as panic attacks. So unfortunately she does not feel able to work and is not getting on with her career.

Also, she has episodes where one side of her face becomes temporarily paralyzed. I believe this has been diagnosed as neuralgia.

If anyone has any suggestions for further action, further research, relevant web pages, or a diagnosis then please let me know.

Answer 1

One perhaps significant thing you do not describe fully is how your friend is NOW. You are not saying that she is experiencing now a recurrence of what happened when she was 25. If her current/recent state is that she is feeling PANIC attacks and she attributes her not going to work to FEAR, then it is rational that she is looking for psychological help. Fear and panic can indeed trigger physiological conditions that might in a calm person remain latent.

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, so if your friend were to mention concern about the possibility of brain hemorrhages to the psychiatrist, s/he "ought" to be able to give a medically knowledgeable response.

I wonder also if your friend has mentioned her past diagnosis of neuralgia to her psychiatrist. It would be easy to feel scared of the truth after these bewildering and I guess frightening episodes at ages 17 and 25, and my thought is that first and foremost she would benefit from being with a mental health professional with whom she feels safe to be open. Someone whom she feels understands her, accepts her, and, perhaps in contrast to many people in her world, neither judges nor runs scared of her. If one of her fears is of telling her whole truth to a doctor, she might want to consider raising that in counseling sessions too. Personally, if I had non-rational fears that my rational mind said were unfounded, I would be minded to approach a counselor/psychotherapist to work on them, rather than a psychiatrist, preferably one that was trained in a "humanistic" way such as person-centered, Gestalt, or cognitive-behavioral. But in counseling, the relationship is more important than the counselor/psychotherapist's specific training model, and the #1 antidote to fear is trust.

When she has a professional relationship with someone with whom she feels safe and trusting, she can share all her hurts and fears. Hopefully this will also be a professional who knows when to refer her on to a specialist such as a neurologist if that is indeed appropriate.

Answer 2

Has she ever seen a neurologist? Some of those symptoms sound similiar to certain types of seizures. It is possible that if she is under alot of stress she could be having what are called pseudoseizures. I think she should have an evaluation done. There is also a condition that can occur with seizures called "Todd's paralysis"...it causes temporary paralysis...

Check out some web sites about epilepsy and seizure disorders...

Answer 3

The best thing you can do is to be available and supportive of her course of treatments instead of second guessing and seeking opinions at such an informal and non-professional forum.

If the issue is not psychological, but neurological, she will be referred to the proper specialty by the psychologist.

Answer 4

i think of the deal right it relatively is that your cutting-edge Dr. (psychologist) needs you to be sure a psychiatrist on account which you choose some meds. Psychiatrist prescribe the meds, no longer psychologists.