Abstract
Issues related to mental health in relation to court matters have increasingly required the participation of the psychologist. We present the use of forensic neuropsychological assessment in a case of retirement reversal. Incapacity was attested due to disability resulting from depression of a 35-year-old attorney, and the case was forwarded from the courts to the Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Unit at the USP Clinical Hospital. A clinical interview and application of cognitive tests was conducted. Despite the depression, significant cognitive losses that would prevent return to his professional assignments were not detected. The neuropsychological assessment has been shown to be an important tool in the forensic context, as it assists with diagnostic value for clarification of functional aspects in the various psychopathological areas in terms of disabilities or potentialities.
Highlights
The impact of mental illness for personal and professional lives of the people has been investigated for a long time[1]
Between the years of 2008 and 2012, 82.980 disability retirements due to mental or behavioral disorders were registered in Brazil, from which 39.63% were from depressive spectrum
We present an account of a case in which neuropsychological assessment in the area of forensics was used for reversal of disability retirement due to depression
Summary
The impact of mental illness for personal and professional lives of the people has been investigated for a long time[1]. Ceasing to work due to debilitating neuropsychiatric disease has increasingly required the participation of doctors and psychologists to clarify the facts, and with the development of neuropsychology this requirement has become more frequent[2,3,4,5] This is a theoretical and practical shift, once the symptoms, and the cognitive changes and functional disability are being taken into account when attesting incapacity, as in episodes of depression, for example[6]. It is observed that Mr C. presented results in the lower middle range in for Perseverative Answers and Perseverative Errors, and average performance for Error Answers and Non-Perseverative Errors These results are related to the ability to formulate an objective, plan, execute plans directed at the objective in an effective way, with spontaneous selfmonitoring spontaneous and with safety associated with frontal lobe functions.
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