Neuropsychological testing

Examples of situations when patints are tested:

-Victims of car accidents or people who suffered head injuries due to work injuries, sport injuries, etc.
-Students who have learning difficulties. Many parents want to help their children who have problems with attention and concentration, because the chances of such children for educational success drastically decrease. In the long run, poor learing may result in worse prognosis for professional success. In addition, many parents are skeptical about administering psychotropic drugs to their children, especially stimulants. Therefore, neuropsychological tests help in such decisions by providing objective results that accurately determine the state of attention, skills and concentration or learning.
-Older people may be aware that they need help. Their doctors and family may have similar observations. They wonder whether a given person should really live alone or does he or she need outside help? Not all, but a significant proportion of older people should not live alone and be left unattended. There are elderly people who forget to take their medications as prescribed by their doctor. There are elderly people who forget about daily hygiene, about meals or have problems with expenses and their control. To protect these people from these and many other dangers, neuropsychological tests are necessary. These tests show everything that the medical doctors or family cannot see. It should be understood that some cognitive changes occur very slowly and adult children of elderly parents, may not notice the changes. In addition, those children hope that their parents are and will always be healthy, so they do not allow the thought that something could be wrong. It is even easier to miss the first symptoms of the disease when contact with parents is only by phone. Children don’t see their parents’ day-to-day functioning, and the phone conversation usually goes the way it did 20 years ago. That’s why testing is so important. They allow to determine the actual state of functioning of an elderly person, their reasoning and understanding of the world, and to know their actual state of mind. The tests are objective and allow patients, doctors and families to take appropriate steps and decisions regarding their parents and family. Such decisions are often difficult, but also necessary for the health of patients themselves and those around them. There are many questions to answer when making them: Should my father live alone? Should my mom drive a car? Are you sure my parents are taking the way their medications were prescribed? Does mom forget that she has the stove/oven on? Is mom able to cook safely? Will she remember the cake is baking? Does dad remember which cupboard contains certain everyday items?

In summary, the Neuropsychological Tests not only indicate the diagnosis of psychiatric diseases but also state what is the cognitive state of a person: Can a given person learn new material? Drive a car? Live alone? Taking care of themselves? Take care of someone else? Can they decide for themselves or others? and more than that.