Title:Crisis and the Neurobiology Involved in the Development of Consequent Mental Illness
Volume: 14
Issue: 4
Author(s): César Portela*Raquel Ribeiro Silva
Affiliation:
- Psychiatry Unit of Hospital Centre of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro Av. Noruega, Lordelo, 5000-508 Vila Real,Portugal
Keywords:
Crisis, psychotherapy, psychiatry, neurobiology, neurocircuitry, crisis intervention.
Abstract: Background: Crisis as a topic in mental health is more relevant than ever. There are
rapid changes happening in the world, involving politics, education, migration and so on. All these
new events have consequences over mental health, at the short and long terms.
Objective: Accomplish the need to understand the neuronal mechanisms underlying an illness after
a crisis event, as well as a better guidance of the therapeutic intervention.
Method: This article is a review of crisis and the consequent illness that it can originate. It consists
of a brief presentation of the main contributions of several authors in their theoretical and practical
components, from their starting point in the development of Crisis Theory. The review continues in
a presentation of the correlations between the perpetuation of crisis and consequent mental illness,
describing the known neurocircuitry underlying the anxious and depressive outcomes. The neurobiological
connection between crisis and mental illness with psychotherapeutic intervention is discussed.
Results: The present neuroscientific data allow the understanding of how the brain can work defining
behavior, judgement or decision making. The knowledge of the neurobiology involved is increasingly
relevant in this area, as it is in others that involve mental illness.
Conclusion: As neuroscience progresses, neurobiology and neurocircuitry can provide the unifying
language and the explanation to the processes involved in mental health and disease, permitting the
use of psychotherapeutic techniques with more benefits to the patient.
