Once a psychiatrist understands what is happening in their patient’s brain, who gives insight on why this is happening? Join this episode of The Menninger Clinic’s Mind Dive Podcast as hosts Dr. Bob Boland and Dr. Kerry Horrell explore the world of behavioral neurology with Dr. Julia Ridgeway-Diaz, psychiatrist, neurologist and neuropsychiatrist at Menninger. 

As they dive into the neuropsychiatrist’s role in physical and mental health, explore the important relationship between medical ailments and resulting behavioral changes. Also discussed is the importance of a neuropsychiatric perspective in complex cases, including a real-life example of treatment failure with antipsychotic medication in a comorbid patient experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia. 

Julia Ridgeway-Diaz, MD, MS, is a staff psychiatrist in outpatient therapy at the Menninger Clinic. With special expertise in neurocognitive disorders, movement disorders, autism spectrum disorder, sleep disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury, she is also an assistant professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. 

“I like getting to the bottom of why things are happening. In psychiatry, we do a really good job of describing what is happening, but we’re not always able to explain the neurologic processes that are causing what we’re seeing,” said Dr. Ridgeway-Diaz. “When what a clinician is seeing doesn’t make sense, that is where a neuropsychiatrist can make an impactful difference.” 

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Visit www.menningerclinic.org to learn more about The Menninger Clinic’s research and leadership role in mental health. 

Listen to Episode 30: The Troubled Teen Industry with Meg Appelgate, CEO of UnSilenced

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Visit The Menninger Clinic website to learn more about The Menninger Clinic’s research and leadership role in mental health.