Issues surrounding reduction and/or elimination of episodes of seclusion and restraint for patients with behavioral problems in crisis clinics, emergency departments, inpatient psychiatric units, and specialized psychiatric emergency services continue to be an area of concern and debate among mental health clinicians. An important underlying principle of Project BETA (Best practices in Evaluati...

OBJECTIVE This study tested the hypothesis that reductions in acute public-sector psychiatric inpatient capacity in a major urban area would be associated with negative impacts on patients and the community. METHODS The impact of two discrete service changes that reduced acute inpatient capacity by 50% in a single public-sector general hospital setting was examined. Indicators of impact were ...

Childhood maltreatment strongly predicts poor psychiatric and physical health outcomes in adulthood. This overview of the literature shows that individuals who suffer abuse, neglect, or serious family dysfunction as children are more likely to be depressed, to experience other types of psychiatric illness, to have more physical symptoms (both medically explained and unexplained), and to engage ...

Adults □ Adolescents Groups for which this instrument might be especially helpful? Populations appropriate for a screening program using the AUDIT include primary care, emergency room, surgery, and psychiatric patients; DWI offenders, criminals in court, jail, and prison; enlisted men in the Armed Forces; workers encountered in employee assistance programs and industrial settings; and college s...

Authors have studied the pattern of psychiatric morbidity at the general emergency out-patient services and at the emergency psychiatric services being run concurrently at a large teaching institution. The percentage of psychotics was observed to be maximum at emergency psychiatric services. Non-psychiatric medical officers were observed to deal with non-psychotic psychiatric emergencies themse...

Covert administration of medications to patients, defined as the administration of medication to patients without their knowledge, is a practice surrounded by clinical, legal, ethics-related, and cultural controversy. Many psychiatrists would be likely to advocate that the practice of covert medication in emergency psychiatry is not clinically, ethically, or legally acceptable. This article exp...

BACKGROUND There is a critical need for empirical data concerning the association of personality traits and attempted suicide with and without psychiatric disorders in mainland China. The objective of the present study is to provide such data by determining the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and analyzing the levels of impulsivity and neuroticism among people who have attempted suicide, an...

In recent years, hospitals across the nation have experienced a significant and growing number of patients with mental and substance use illnesses presenting in their emergency departments (EDs). This recent upsurge can be attributed to several factors, including the loss of acute hospital psychiatric capacity in both the public and private sectors; lack of access to primary and other outpatien...

The investigators conducted a pilot study to detect suicide risk in adolescents and adults seeking treatment in an emergency department, as well as to test the reliability and validity of the 4-item Risk of Suicide Questionnaire (RSQ). This study expanded the implementation of the RSQ beyond its initial use with children and adolescents with psychiatric symptoms who were seeking treatment in a ...