Assessment of the psychiatric patient
Peter Kopelman, Dame Jane Dacre in Handbook of Clinical Skills, 2019
Psychiatry is concerned with the study and management of patients suffering from disorders of various mental functions. Like many conditions, these are recognised as resulting from a combination of biological, psychological and social factors. Although people often place a greater emphasis on the psychological and social aspects where psychiatric diagnosis is concerned, vital to an understanding of this is the physiology that underpins the disorders central to it. These may be primary and ‘functional’, representing a disorder of function, or secondary to another diagnosis or prescribed medication. These possibilities are central to formulating a differential diagnosis. However, rather than being based on an established aetiology, such as one that might be confirmed by specific clinical investigations, psychiatric diagnosis relies on the recognition of groups of symptoms that cluster together as syndromes, and which occur consistently and to a certain degree predict the response to both pharmacological and psychological treatments.
Mental, emotional and spiritual health
Sally Robinson in Priorities for Health Promotion and Public Health, 2021
Mental disorders are characterised by a combination of abnormal thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships with others (WHO, 2019a). This is a broader and more up to date term than ‘mental illness’, which is strongly associated with the fields of psychiatry and psychology, with an emphasis on a medical diagnosis and medical treatment (Mental Health Foundation, 2019a). As the medical model of health and illness was challenged, as discussed in Chapter 1, and research confirmed that mental disorders were the result of complex interactions between psychological, social and biological factors, so the term ‘mental illness’ and the significant social stigma associated with it is becoming less used. During the 21st century we have seen the adoption of terms such as ‘mental health problems’, ‘mental ill health’ and sometimes simply ‘mental health’, when mental disorders and their treatment are being discussed. The World Health Organization (2004) argue that this euphemistic language is confusing, and currently use the terms ‘mental disorders’ or ‘mental, behavioural or neurodevelopmental disorders’ (WHO, 2019a; 2019b).
Psychosocial rehabilitation of the elderly with early- or late-onset schizophrenia: general principles
Anne M. Hassett, David Ames, Edmond Chiu in Psychosis in the Elderly, 2005
The concept of rehabilitation progressively emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when European and American societies had to deal with a large number of physically disabled veterans because of war injuries. At the same time, the de-institutionalization movement pressed mental health professionals to experiment with new techniques for improving community-based continued care and social integration of chronic psychiatric patients. Considering that the goals of psychiatric care are not limited to achieving an attenuation of the symptoms of the disorder, efforts have been directed to improving the social adaptation of patients. Beyond these objectives, ultimate goals of the care process are also to try to improve quality of life, to enhance patient satisfaction, to alleviate the family burden, and finally to improve caregiver satisfaction (Bertolote, 1993). In a such perspective, psychiatric rehabilitation has progressively become a complementary approach to pharmacological management and psychotherapy in the long-term care of patients suffering from chronic mental disorders.
The neglected disorders in psychiatry
Published in International Review of Psychiatry, 2020
Andrea Fiorillo, Antonio Ventriglio
Psychiatry is a relatively recent medical discipline, which aims to describe, study, treat, and prevent mental and behavioural disorders (Bhugra et al., 2015a). As the political and social developments change, societies, human behaviours, and social determinants of health (and of mental health) also rapidly change (Fiorillo & Maj, 2018). Also, the presentation and clinical characterization of many mental disorders is heavily influenced by cultural factors (Bhugra et al., 2015b; Bhugra et al., 2018). Therefore, in the last few decades a number of new conditions have emerged and a number have either disappeared and/or not being diagnosed as frequently. Some new forms of psychiatric disturbances and psychopathological features have arisen as a consequence of modernization and social crises (Fiorillo et al., 2013; Ventriglio et al., 2020), which have taken over and replaced many classical psychiatric disorders.
Rehabilitation models of care for children and youth living with traumatic brain and/or spinal cord injuries: A focus on family-centred care, psychosocial wellbeing, and transitions
Published in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2022
Edith N. Botchway, Sarah Knight, Frank Muscara, Mardee Greenham, Kate D’Cruz, Bruce Bonyhady, Vicki Anderson, Adam Scheinberg
All the MRS and CBR services provided psychosocial support for children and youth through group programmes including social groups, activity groups, and camps. Psychological/mental health support services were also available in most services: “Each patient is assigned a social worker. We have two social workers. And there’s also a psychologist that’s here part-time, and then we do have a health psychiatry if needed” (#MR6). A few services (n = 2) also provided children and youth with educational materials (booklets and videos) on mental health. One insurance service provider supported children and youth by assessing psychosocial risk of each child and developing a support plan for those at risk. Both insurance services provided funding for children and youth to access psychosocial care and to attend recommended participation-focused activities.
Pain and mental health symptom patterns and treatment trajectories following road trauma: a registry-based cohort study
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2022
Sherry Huang, Joanna F. Dipnall, Belinda J. Gabbe, Melita J. Giummarra
Payments by the TAC were used to identify pain and mental health treatments for each participant, which were summarised as the number of treatments for pain or mental health symptoms accessed in each 91-day (3 month) period. Treatments were identified using a combination of TAC benefit codes, Medicare Benefits Schedule, and Pharmaceutical Benefit Schedule item numbers, based on previously published codes [6]. Pain treatments included medications for pain (i.e., Schedule 8 opioid medications, codeine, neuropathic medications, Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories, and migraine medications), treatment from a network pain management provider, pain specialist consultations, pain-related hospital admissions, and pain-related surgeries. Mental health treatments included medications for mental health symptoms (i.e., antidepressants, sedatives, or antipsychotics), and psychiatry, psychology, counselling, or social work consultations.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Cognition
- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
- International Classification of Diseases
- Neuroimaging
- Neurophysiology
- Perception
- Mental Disorder
- Medical History
- Mental Status Examination
- Psychological Testing
- International Classification of Diseases
- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders