Dr.Keyur Panchal : Psychiatrist in Ahmedabad | Sexologist | De-addiction therapist

             Dr.Keyur Panchal is psychiatrist in Ahmedabad and de addiction therapist.He completed his under- graduate studies at the B.J.Medical college,Civil hospital Ahmedabad.He completed his post - graduate training in psychiatry from the N.H.L municipal medical college,Ahmedabad.He is also a registered member of Indian psychiatric society and Indian Medical association.

         His practice involves the diagnosis and treatment of the full spectrum of psychiatric disorders like depression,bipolar mood disorder,generalized anxiety disorder,acute stress disorder, schizophrenia,schizoaffective disorder,delusional disorder,obsessive compulsive disorder,panic disorder,somatoform disorders,pain disorders,tension type headache and other headaches,drug abuse (alcohol,cannabis,opium,nicotine,inhalants) etc. with a special interest in Bipolar mood disorderand Adult ADHD/ADD.He also provides treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders like dementia(Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia),Migraine and other headaches,behavioural and cognitive disturbances after brain injury.As a sexologist he also offers treatments for various psycho sexual disorders like erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation,hypo active sexual desire disorder,sexual pain disorder and sexual addiction.

Our Holistic approach:

We believe in integrating nutrition, exercise, supplements,behavioral interventions,self help,psychological therapies and mindfulness into treatment apart from medications to establish a comprehensive management plan.

We prefer a conservative approach avoiding admissions,ECTs or other intense treatments(though few patients do require supervised intesive psychiatric care including ECTs).

Whenever appropriate we do suggest patients to seek psycho-therapeutic help also.

What's a psychiatrist?

Many people are unsure about what exactly psychiatrists do.

Psychiatrists are just like medical doctors from other specialities like cardiology,dermatology etc.who are trained into dealing with mental health disorders after their medical graduation(MBBS).They specialize in diagnosing and treating people with emotional,cognitive and behavioral disorders.

Psychiatrists are qualified to evaluate both the mental and physical aspects of psychological/emotional/behavioral disorders.Depression is the most common reason why people seek psychiatrist's help.

Psychiatrists help people with mental health disorders such as Anxiety,insomnia,schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder,OCD,psychosexual disorders and substance use disorders.

What to expect when you consult a psychiatrist?

Diagnosis and detailed evaluation is very important especially for complex mental health issues.Asking a family member or a friend to accompany you is often helpful to understand your life from a significant other's perspective.

There aren't any laboratory/radiological investigations to understand/diagnose psychiatric problems.Psychiatrist mostly use laboratory investigations and imaging to rule out other medical conditions which might mimic psychiatric disorder.(eg.hypothyroidism)

Psychometric assessments are often helpful to understand a person's personality and to diagnose psychopathology.

After initial evaluation a management plan is devised which often includes psychotherapy sessions apart from taking medications and other lifestyle modifications.

Why people are still reluctant to meet a psychiatrist?

 

There multiple reasons for very low percentage of people taking psychiatrist's help considering the relatively high prevalence of psychiatric disorders. 

 

Even in developed societies and among well educated people stigma is still there about mental health issues and visiting a psychiatrist/mental health professional for their psychological issues.Stigma is one the most important factor preventing people from taking psychiatric treatment.

 

Lack of awareness/ignorance about psychiatric illnesses and their treatments is also a very important factor for low percentage of people receiving  psychiatric care.  

 

What causes mental illness?

 

Psychiatric disorders are also multi factorial and  genetic factors and environmental factors both play a role in causing psychiatric disorders.

 

How psychiatric conditions are diagnosed?

 

Diagnostic process of evaluating mental disorders is very much different from diagnosing other medical conditions.Cardiac disorder can be identified by electrocardiogram,lipid profile,cardiac enzyme markers,angiography and various other investigative procedures.Neurological disorders can be  diagnosed by MRI,CT scan,blood investigations nerve conduction studies etc. But coming to diagnostic conclusion for psychiatric disorder is not that straight forward and critics of psychiatry often call it very subjective process which is not true.

So are there any blood test available for depression,bipolar disorder,anxiety disorder or any other psychiatric condition?

The answer is NO. There are certain medical condition which might contribute significantly to a psychiatric condition but all those are secondary conditions.For example hypothyroidism is very well known cause of depression and often psychiatrist do order thyroid profile when a patient is presented with depressive symptoms when comorbid hypothyroidism is also suspected.Similarly vitamin deficiencies is like Vitamin D and Vitamin B12  can also contribute to to depressive symptoms though not significantly.Some medications might affect other organ systems.For this possible medication related Side Effects or just to identify any other comorbid medical conditions psychiatrist might order various investigations but this investigative procedures are not helpful in diagnosis of primary psychiatric condition but just to understand any other associated medical conditions which might have contributed to the  the presenting psychiatric symptoms.So there are no pathology/biochemical lab investigations which can diagnose depression schizophrenia any other psychiatric condition.

Neurotransmitters are involved in most of the psychiatric condition and often psychiatric conditions are explained as neurotransmitter in balance.There are blood test available for many neurotransmitters like dopamine,serotonin etc  but all this blood test are of no clinical use because they don't provide any specific information for any specific psychiatric conditions.

 What about imaging studies like functional MRI and pet scan?

 years function MRI and pants came to provide Useful information for certain psychiatric conditions and they have been utilised various research studies which have helped us to understand psychiatric conditions better from a neurobiological perspective but this type of imaging studies are Mor 11 for research purpose because they are also not very specific and apart from that they are also very costly just use them for a psychiatric diagnosis

Than how a psychiatrist diagnose depression or any other psychiatric condition?

 

Patient history and mental status examination is the most important factor for any psychiatric evaluation.Psychiatric rating scales used in psychometric assessment can also help a psychiatrist to find missing pieces of information required for diagnostic understanding of a patient’s presenting symptoms.Rating scales also help to understand the severity of a particular  condition like depression &anxiety.