Making psychiatric diagnoses can be challenging as patients may present with issues in multiple domains of their lives. One may suffer from abnormal brain processes that can result in mood changes, unusual thought processes or odd mental phenomena such as hallucinations or delusions. Another may have a difficult time coping with life tragedies or traumas and yet others may present with problematic behavioral issues in sleeping or eating. Often, patients face multiple difficulties and seek clarity in diagnosis. This is why our process begins with a thorough evaluation.
Dr. Yi uses “bottom up” approach to his evaluation. That is, he first tries to understand the whole person before focusing on the presenting problems. His evaluation is designed to gather detailed information about different aspects of a person’s life starting with early development. It also includes detailed psychiatric and medical histories. Dr. Yi uses “The Perspectives of Psychiatry” developed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital to arrive at an initial diagnostic impression (to learn more about this approach, please refer to this article).
Diagnoses may include:
- ADHD (Children and Adults)
- Anxiety Disorders (such as Social Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
- Mood Disorders (such as Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder)
- Psychotic Disorders (such as Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder)