n African Journal of Psychiatry - The role of the neuropsychological assessment in relinquishing decision making rights : editorial

Abstract

Many neurological and psychiatric disorders (for example the cortical and sub-cortical dementias and certain psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia) have a pattern of deterioration in which cognitive functioning becomes progressively compromised. Many challenges face such individuals and their families but perhaps one of the more difficult problems to be faced in the disease process concerns decision-making : when is the symptomatic person no longer able to make independent decisions?