Itching in the Psychiatric Ward

Itching in the psychiatric ward.

Chronic itch is known to have psychogenic elements; however, there is no data on itch prevalence and characteristics among hospitalized psychiatric patients. We investigated the prevalence and types of itching among hospitalized psychiatric patients who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, affective or other psychiatric disorders. A validated itch questionnaire based on the McGill Pain Questi...

Dying in the psychiatric ward.

General hospital staff is experienced in dealing with the death of a patient. However, aside from cases of sudden death among psychiatric inpatients, psychiatric medical staff faces such situations considerably less frequently. Many chronic psychiatric patients do not have a family or home, a situation which may become even more painful if the patient is dying of a physical illness. Coping with...

Chronotherapeutics in a psychiatric ward.

Psychiatric chronotherapeutics is the controlled exposure to environmental stimuli that act on biological rhythms in order to achieve therapeutic effects in the treatment of psychiatric conditions. In recent years some techniques (mainly light therapy and sleep deprivation) have passed the experimental developmental phase and reached the status of powerful and affordable clinical interventions ...

The psychiatric ward as a therapeutic space.

Aggressive behaviour in a psychiatric observation ward.

Episodes of aggression were monitored, using a questionnaire, for a 6-month period in the female observation ward of a General Psychiatric Hospital. The results show that: a small group of schizophrenic patients were responsible for most of the incidents; nursing staff and other patients fell victim equally frequently; few of the incidents were predictable. Psychotic symptoms appear to be the m...