The history of the world and human evolution is characterized by two elements: reason, in its various forms, written and spoken, which is a unique feature of the human species, and the communication between people that arises from its use and connects the members of the species homo sapiens with each other, forming the basic substrate of macro- and micro-social organization.
Reason and communication require the cooperation of movements that extend meaning and socially "color" concepts, emphasize or tone down, reveal or obscure meanings, or provide the final choice among multiple meanings contained in sentences or narratives. Our Italian neighbors are known to place great importance on and emphasize the synergy of speech and movement in communication. Hence the well-known joke about the Italian who, after an accident, was at risk of losing both hands. In distress, he said: "and how will I talk after that?"
Nonetheless, my 30 years of experience in psychiatry and the supervision of a large number of psychiatry residents have deeply troubled me, as I have found the little importance that the average psychiatrist places on speech disorders and psychomotor function. This is understandable, as modern diagnostic systems give little weight to dysfunction in speech and motor behavior, due to the fact that they do not constitute the main diagnostic symptoms that differentiate mental disorders from one another. This occurs for the simple reason that they happen in all mental disorders, resulting in the disrupted communication of individuals with mental disorders with their environment.
The necessary distinction of mental disorders becomes an obsession, and treatment is directed towards the alleviation of the "disease" rather than towards the restoration or improvement of communication, which is always impaired.
The book by Varios Peritogianis and Victoria Zakopoulou emphasizes the need to focus on speech disorders and disrupted communication. It provides the basic elements for understanding these problems from the perspective of brain function and also aids with detailed descriptions and examples in recognizing these disorders, thereby assisting the mental health professional in documenting them. From this standpoint, it will serve as a fundamental aid in the mental health professions.
The rich bibliography that accompanies it offers the interested party the opportunity to study these issues in depth. Therefore, I am pleased to welcome it to the Greek literature on mental health.
