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Emergency Psychiatry

The clinical application of psychiatry in emergency settings is known as emergency psychiatry. Suicidal attempts, substance abuse, depression, psychosis, violence, or other rapid changes in behaviour may all necessitate psychiatric intervention. Professionals in medicine, nursing, psychology, and social work provide psychiatric emergency services.

Any change in a person's thinking, behaviour, mood, and/or sensory experiences associated with a disturbance of the person's personal, social, and/or occupational functioning, resulting in an inability to carry out their day-to-day roles and responsibilities, are signs that they may be suffering from a Mental Illness.

A psychiatric emergency can involve, but is not limited to, the following:

•   Persons who express suicidal thoughts or who have recently attempted suicide
•   Individuals who have expressed thoughts of harming others or who have recently harmed others in the presence of other signs of Mental Illness
•   Persistent and severe Aggression or agitation due to mental illness
•   Neglect of self-care as a result of mental illness

Treatments in psychiatric emergency rooms are often transient in nature, with the goal of providing dispositional remedies and/or stabilising life-threatening situations. Patients with chronic conditions may be transferred to a facility that can provide long-term psychiatric rehabilitation once they have been stabilised. Treatments prescribed in an emergency room vary depending on the patient's condition. In an emergency, various types of psychiatric medication, psychotherapy, or electroconvulsive therapy may be used.

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