Normal vs Pathological: First Steps — Diagnosis Before Everything Else

When someone seeks help, it is tempting to start "working on yourself" right away — discussing family, relationships, the past. But Dr. Saulitis insists the first step is different. First you must understand what is actually happening to you — the state of your neurons, your body, your brain. Without this acknowledgment of the fact, any "treatment" stays empty.

First — Acknowledging the Fact

The analogy is simple: prevention and training are good, but if a leg is broken, you need a cast first. The same here: until the state is understood, going to "treat" something is pointless. So the first step is not choosing a method or hunting for "your" specialist — it is understanding your own state and getting a diagnosis. A diagnosis is always made by a medical specialist; the doctor's professionalism plays the main role here.

Why Without Understanding the Brain You Miss the Mark

Psychologists and psychotherapists work with behavior and thinking. But an informative phenomenon (a word, a thought) causes changes in the neuron and synapse and acts on neuroplasticity — on how the brain develops and works, like hardware. If you cannot see what state this brain is in, you have no idea what you are doing to it: whether you should "warm it up or cool it down." Then any theories and approaches remain mere intellectualization.

Same on the Outside, Different Inside

Outwardly the picture may look identical, while the causes differ: burnout, attention deficit, age, stress. You must act precisely on the cause. So the same complaint may hide a different state — and without diagnosis you risk "treating" the wrong thing.

What Shapes the State

The doctor names the levels that form how a person manifests: genetics — how the neurons work; epigenetics — how the environment acts on them; learning and states — that same neuroplasticity (whether there was psychotraumatization in childhood or, on the contrary, a confirming, supportive environment), skills, and how healthy the surrounding environment is. "You pick up the habits of those you keep company with."

Practice: First Steps

1. Pause before choosing a method. Don't start "treating" yourself with talk until the state is understood.
2. Cover basic needs. Check: did you sleep, did you rest? A healthy, rested person often sees what to do on their own.
3. Go to a medical specialist for a diagnosis — this is the main step. Similar-looking states have different causes; you need to understand yours.
4. Learn the basics of how the brain works. At least a basic grasp of how neurons function, so you understand what is happening to you.
5. Remember the team. Today specialists work in teams; but the anchor point is the acknowledgment of the fact about your health.