Many mental illness patients undiagnosed: Psychiatrist

Port Moresby General Hospital psychiatrist Dr Julius Ngason says at least 25 per cent of patients visiting health centres had a mental illness, usually a minor illness or neurotic disorder, but unfortunately many of them go undiagnosed.
Ngason said major mental illnesses called psychotic disorders were more easily recognised even by lay people because the behaviour of the patients was obviously abnormal.
He said patients with neurotic disorders could behave strangely, have abnormal moods and thoughts. But they would not have hallucinations and delusions and they would not lose touch with reality.
The neurotic disorders include anxiety, depression, phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ngason said the signs and symptoms were not obvious and would require specialist assessments which the country lacked.
“The diagnosis of mental illness is made through a combination of history-taking and assessment of the patient’s mental state,” he said.
He said in history-taking, they looked for reported abnormalities such as the patient talking to himself or herself, crying non-stop, not eating or sleeping and being aggressive without provocation.
With mental state assessment, Ngason said specialists looked for visible signs of mental disorder in appearance and behaviour, cognitive functions such as memory and concentration, thoughts, speech, moodand if they knew they were ill.