Psychotropic medication includes some of the most commonly prescribed medication in the the world. This article will cover the types of medication you will tend to encounter, important side effects, monitoring and emergencies. Mood disorders When initiating patients on anti-depressant medication it is important to
Determining the risk of harm to the patient, and sometimes to others, is an essential part of a psychiatric assessment. It is useful to know what questions to ask whether you’re at the hospital front door or on an inpatient psychiatric ward. Self-harm/suicide risk assessment
Anxiety is a commonly experienced symptom as part of the body’s reaction to stress. It becomes a mental health disorder if exaggerated, lasts >3 weeks and interferes with daily life. Features Psychological: Dread Tension Poor concentration Depersonalisation/derealisation Physical: Insomnia Loss of appetite Globus Diarrhoea Urinary
In this article, we cover depressive disorders, bipolar affective disorder and schizoaffective disorder with an overview of the epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, assessment and management steps. Depressive disorder Annual prevalence of 5% Depressive episodes last >2 weeks Core symptoms: low mood, anhedonia, anergia Associated: sleep disturbance
Psychiatry, as a specialty is unique in that diagnostic methods, rely very heavily on symptomatology, therefore assessment has to be thorough. Components of psychiatric assessment Full history with mental state exam (MSE) Physical examination and investigations to rule out organic causes 1. Presenting complaint This
One of the most common A&E presentations is a sore throat, and while sore throat seems like a pretty straightforward complaint, it is important to properly assess and identify the cause in order to adequately treat it! Causes of Sore Throat Common causes of sore
Most of the time, chest pain in children originates from a benign cause. However, paediatric chest pain can be a sign of serious pathology, particularly cardiac. It is important that, as the clinicians who often clerk children when they first present to hospital, FY1 doctors