My 20 year son was diagnosed with schitzophereniform a month ago after experiencing psychosis which mostly consisted of delusions. He has not yet had a neurological exam or imaging. His mental health care provider does not think it is needed. What are your thoughts? I am new to this and don’t really have a good experienced support group yet.
My son had a MRI to rule out a brain tumor. that was 11 years ago. My brother in law is a doctor and he set it up.
1 Like
My 18 yo daughter also had a MRI to rule out brain tumor…
1 Like
My son did not have an MRI and also refuses to due to paranoia and no insight , having said that not one of his doctors even suggested it , i wanted my son to get it done just to rule out if its schizophrenia or not . My suggestion is that if your son agrees to it then you should do it for peace of mind as until now i have no peace of mind , good luck
My husband had an mri bc bizarre behavior was taking place along with multiple injuries that he caused and property damage. I thought him to have a tumor and not know he was dying. The mri came back abnormal and he chooses not to deal with it. By law he don’t have to deal with anything regarding his health .
My daughter had an MRI 2.5 years ago that showed she has “at least partial agenesis of the corpus collosum” (missing white matter in the brain). It is congenital, and we never knew she had it.
The State of Florida Vocational Rehab office set her up with psychological testing and neuropsychological testing as part of their effort to help her find work despite her sz and brain abnormality.
It helped her to know the results of the testing. Which helped me to understand her better.
I did not have brain imaging. I am curious what a scan may find, because of my apparent success with recovery. I’m more interested in what an active PET study might find as it may show adaptations or neurogenesis routing around issues. MRI results might be interesting as well, but I feel unless a scientific study was involved any scans might be an expensive vanity project.
I’m reviving this topic because I think it is important. Any thoughts about getting a brain scan for your family member?
This is what the APA Practice Guideline says about it:
Factors that suggest a possible need for imaging include focal neurological signs, new onset of seizures, later age at symptom onset, symptoms suggestive of intracranial pathology (e.g., chronic or severe headaches, nausea, vomiting), and symptoms suggestive of autoimmune encephalitis (e.g., rapid progression of working memory deficits over less than 3 months; decreased or altered level of consciousness, lethargy, or personality change).
In the absence of such indications, decisions about imaging should consider that the yield of routine brain imaging is low, with <1% of studies showing potentially serious incidental findings or abnormalities that would influence treatment).
On the other hand, routine imaging is a low-risk procedure, and a negative finding can be reassuring to patients and to families. If imaging is ordered, it is rarely necessary to delay other treatment or hospitalization while awaiting imaging results.
Absent the concerning symptoms they say <1% of studies show something actionable. But they say an MRI or PET scan is low-risk.
Absent the symptoms the APA lists I don’t think I would do it unless it would be paid for by insurance.
1 Like