TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Psychiatric Emergencies A1 - Lommel, Karen M. A1 - Meadows, Amy L. A1 - Chopra, Nitin A1 - Thompson, Slade A2 - Stone, C. Keith A2 - Humphries, Roger L. Y1 - 2017 N1 - T2 - CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Emergency Medicine, 8e AB - Psychiatric emergencies are acute changes in thought processes and behaviors potentially impairing a patient’s ability to function in his or her environment. Patients are in a state of crisis in which their baseline coping mechanisms have been overwhelmed by real or perceived circumstances. The most common place for them to be seen is in the emergency department (ED) where providers need to address potential medical issues creating psychiatric manifestations or control the aggression for safe placement. The issue of psychiatric patients boarding in the ED has become an increasing issue within the majority of departments across the nation. Therefore, we have begun to see the importance of the emergency medicine providers understanding psychiatric emergencies, especially suicidal ideation, psychosis, and agitation with the intention to begin treatment just as one would with chest pain, respiratory distress, or abdominal pain. Not all patients with mental illness need to be seen by a mental health provider, just as not all chest pain patients need to be seen by a cardiologist. With limited availability of mental health services, this has become an essential part of emergency medicine. This chapter is designed to help the ED provider to understand psychiatric illnesses, assess suicidality, and begin treatment for psychosis and/or agitation while maintaining personal, staff, and patient safety. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1176297722 ER -