Any disturbance in human behavior has immediate and future consequences and costs. So, when a growing number of humans from across nations suffer from some form of mental illness, the cost and consequences to countries’ economic and societal security understandably skyrocket. This is a crisis that is becoming increasingly catastrophic for all nations, and as a result, everything seems to be at risk.
As countries confront the complexity of mental health illnesses, a lack of understanding of its root causes, genetic predispositions, biochemical workings, ineffective treatments, and absent controls are worsening the crisis. Psychiatry today still relies on mostly voluntary patient reporting and physician observation based on clinical symptoms or discussions alone for clinical decision making. When most psychiatric diagnoses still rely on just talking to the patient, clearly there is a need for better ways to diagnose mental diseases. Now when it comes to treatment, even today, most psychiatrists still go through a trial-and-error approach to determine the right medication in the proper dosage to improve patient outcomes.
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