Acute Psychiatry

A pocketbook for trainees in psychiatry which gives instant access to the information psychiatrists need in acute clinical situations – how to assess the patient, how to effectively manage psychiatric emergencies as well as the accurate diagnosis and management of common psychiatric conditions.

Key Features

Instant-access pocketbook of psychiatry covering patient assessment, diagnosis and management of common psychiatric conditions and psychiatric emergencies
Concentrates on the information needed while on the ward or in the emergency department, using an easily accessible style with bullet points and short paragraphs
The first section, which covers patient assessment, is particularly useful for the clinical sections of the MRCPsych and similar exams
The second section covers typical presentations such as the deluded patient, the aggressive patient, the suicidal patient and is ideal for 'instant access' in the emergency department
The third section covers psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and depressive disorders, concentrating on common and difficult diagnostic issues and management rather than 'textbook' subjects such as aetiology.

Contents
SECTION 1 Clinical Assessment:
The psychiatric history.
The mental state examination.
Investigations.
Differential diagnosis.
Management.
SECTION 2 Management of psychiatric emergencies:
Generic approach in acute psychiatry.
The anxious/agitated patient.
The manic/disinhibited patient.
Insomnia.
The deluded patient.
The hallucinated patient.
The obsessional patient.
The confused patient.
The patient with poor memory.
Low mood/psychomotor retardation.
The suicidal patient.
The aggressive patient.
A borderline personality disorder in crisis.
The patient who has been banned from hospital or admission.
The liaison patient.
SECTION 3 Management of common psychiatric disorders:
Delirium.
Dementia.
Organic psychiatric disorders.
Alcohol withdrawal.
Drug or alcohol induced psychiatric disorders.
Schizophrenia.
Persistent delusional disorder (PDD).
Schizoaffective disorder.
Manic episode and bipolar affective disorder.
Agoraphobia, social phobia, panic and anxiety disorder.
Borderline personality disorder.


Author Information
By Matthew Castle, Specialist Registrar, The Royal Free and University Hospital Rotation, London, UK; and Rachel Jones, Consultant in General and Forensic Psychiatry, John Howard Centre, Hackney, London, UK.