Thank you mr. Zaman for an interesting topic. My answer is yes. My reason is that neuropsychiatric conditions still is uncleare, and basic science researchers need to recongnize symptoms and confounding symptoms in order to refine there research methods. What do other colleagues think?

My thinking is that wouldn't be necessary. Any good researcher working in a basic science, by default, must read lots of literature on a particular disease or condition. Why he or she is doing that research, why it is necessary, what is the translational aspects of their findings in clinical population.

You read and equip yourself with adequate knowledge, interact with other subject matter experts, attend conferences, symposium, and meetings and gather more and more information. In day-to-day life, you encounter with people who have varied disorders - depression/bipolar, OCD, schizophrenia, tourette's syndrome, eating disorders, etc. etc. You take a subway, take a stroll in the park, or walk in the main streets, you may be able to see (of course, you sort of identify yourself with your experience. eg. tourette's, eating disorders, etc). Some of the friends or relatives might have been diagnosed with one of these disorders.

Hence, I think it is not necessary to visit patients in clinical (e.g. inpatient settings), due to PRIVACY issues. Then comes the SAFETY issue for the visitors. Will we obtain consent from them for such visits by non-clinician expert in that area?

If I am working on an animal model of some of the neuropsychiatric diseases; looking at a real person's face wouldn't help in any ways! If I were working on some neurotransmitters or brain pathways or genetic aspects of schizophrenia, looking at a patient in clinical setting wouldn't do any good. I may feel more sympathetic and try to a good job.

Alternatively, if someone doesn't have clinical experience, they could most certainly collaborate with experts in the field and get a sense of what it really means from clinical point of view!

As an expert basic researcher, I would not only know the basic biology of neuropsychiatric disease that I am working on, but also I would learn more about the epidemiology of the disease, incidence and prevalence, etiopathogenesis, clinical characteristics and management and areas that need further research.

Certainly collaboration will move the field forward quickly!