Contents -- 1 The assessment of psychiatric emergencies -- Emergency referrals -- Telephone referrals -- Interview arrangements -- Sources of information -- Major emergencies -- The interview process -- Mental state examination -- Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) -- Physical examination -- Investigations -- Telepsychiatry -- 2 The management of psychiatric and medical emergencies -- Emergency interventions -- Delirium -- General dystonic reactions -- Oculogyric crisis -- Neuroleptic malignant syndrome -- Poisoning -- Resuscitation -- Wernicke's encephalopathy -- Acute severe asthma -- Diabetic ketoacidosis and other diabetic emergencies -- Notifiable diseases -- Needlestick injuries -- Human bite wounds -- 3 Psychiatric symptoms and syndromes presenting as emergencies -- Acute psychoses -- Endocrinopathies -- Disorders presenting with anxiety and panic -- Depressive and dysphoric symptomatology -- Catatonic patients -- 4 Aggression and violence -- Schizophrenia and violence -- Warning signs -- Terminology -- Checklist to aid assessment and management -- Risk of violence among psychiatric inpatients -- Assessment -- Risk factors for violence have been recently usefully summarized -- Management -- Summary of management of aggression and violence -- Safety in outpatient settings -- Safety in the community -- Burns -- 5 Victims of abuse, violence, and disaster -- Non-accidental injury of children -- Consequences for adult functioning of childhood sexual abuse -- Child abduction -- Spouse abuse (replaces term wife-battering)/intimate partner violence -- Elder abuse -- Morbid jealousy (Othello syndrome) -- Erotomania (de Clérambault's syndrome) -- Stalking -- Rape and sexual assault of women -- Rape and sexual assault of men -- Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Acute stress reaction -- Adjustment disorder.

6 Homelessness, loneliness, and isolation -- Prevalence and factors associated with homelessness -- Housing and mental health -- Loneliness -- Psychiatric disorders in homeless people -- Management of homelessness -- Legal framework of management -- 7 Deliberate self-harm and suicide -- Deliberate self-harm -- Risk factors for suicide have been recently usefully summarized -- Assessment of suicidal intent and risk of repetition -- Management/prognosis/prevention of non-fatal deliberate self-harm -- Association of suicide with psychiatric disorders -- Association of suicide with physical disorders -- Association with psychiatric hospitalization -- Association with general practice consultation -- National Confidential Enquiry into Suicide and Homicide in the UK -- Association with antidepressant therapy -- Referral pathways -- Assessment and management -- Discharge -- Emergency assessment of capacity -- 8 Alcohol misuse and dependence -- Units of alcohol -- Levels of consumption -- Alcohol-related disabilities -- Alcohol dependence -- Assessment -- Acute intoxication -- Alcohol withdrawal -- 9 Other psychoactive substance misuse -- Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 -- Opioids -- Management of opiate withdrawal -- Cannabinoids -- Sedatives and hypnotics -- Cocaine -- Amphetamine and related substances -- Caffeine -- Hallucinogens -- Volatile solvents -- History-taking relevant to substance abuse -- On examination -- Referral to specialist substance misuse services -- Investigations -- Referral to medical services -- 10 Emergencies related to psychotropic drug actions -- Acute dystonia -- Clozapine -- Serotonin syndrome -- Hyponatraemia and antidepressants -- Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) -- Lithium toxicity -- Paradoxical reactions to benzodiazepines -- 11 Psychiatric emergencies in accident and emergency departments.

Munchausen syndrome (hospital addiction syndrome) -- Medically unexplained symptoms -- 12 Psychiatric emergencies in general hospital medical wards -- Epidemiology -- Prevention -- Common emergencies in psychiatry in general hospital wards -- Acute organic mental disorder/acute confusional states/delirium -- Memory disturbance -- Mood disorder -- Psychiatric aspects of neurology -- Psychiatric aspects of epilepsy -- Huntington's disease (chorea) -- Cerebral tumours -- Parkinsonism -- Multiple sclerosis -- Neurosyphilis -- HIV/AIDS -- Meningitis, encephalitis, and subarachnoid haemorrhages -- Psychological reactions to neurological symptoms -- Interaction between psychiatric and physical illness -- Dissociative and conversion disorders -- Hypochondriacal disorder (health anxiety disorder) -- Somatization disorder -- Medically unexplained symptoms -- Factors influencing response to physical illness -- Management -- Body dysmorphic disorder and other associated concepts -- The uncooperative patient -- Assessment -- Problem of patients taking leave against medical advice before assessment or treatment is complete -- 13 Psychiatric emergencies in surgical, radiotherapy, oncology, and terminally ill patients -- Psychological consequences of surgery -- Management of the dying -- Bereavement -- Atypical (abnormal) complicated grief -- 14 Psychiatric emergencies in obstetrics and gynaecology -- Perinatal psychiatry -- Post-partum maternity 'blues' -- Postnatal puerperal depression -- Puerperal psychosis -- Role of psychiatric trainee in initial assessment of a puerperal woman -- Other potentially urgent situations relating to pregnancy and childbirth -- Specialist issues to be considered -- 15 Psychiatric emergencies in children and adolescents -- Assessment -- Children Act 1989 -- Safety issues -- Self-harm -- Child abuse -- Other psychiatric emergencies.

16 Psychiatric emergencies in people with learning disabilities -- Presentation -- Common medical problems -- Other potential problems -- Management -- 17 Emergencies in old-age psychiatry -- Presentation of psychiatric disorders -- Accident and emergency departments -- Medication -- Discharge from accident and emergency departments -- General management issues in old-age psychiatry -- Driving -- 18 Emergencies in psychiatry in primary care -- Epidemiology -- Range of cases seen in primary care compared to psychiatric practice -- Neurotic and stress-related disorders -- Safety considerations -- 19 Assertive outreach, crisis resolution and intensive home treatment teams, and early intervention services -- Assertive outreach -- Crisis resolution and intensive home treatment teams -- Early intervention services -- 20 Mental health legislation relevant to emergencies in psychiatry -- Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales) -- Definition of categories of mental disorder recognized in the Mental Health Act 1983 -- Orders under the Mental Health Act 1983 -- Mental Health Review Tribunals (MHRT) -- Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC) (Section 121) -- Court of Protection (Section 94) -- Patients' rights under Mental Health Act 1983 -- Consent to treatment -- Detention under the Mental Health Act on a general medical or surgical ward -- Changes to Mental Health Act 1983 introduced by Mental Health Act 2006 -- Mental Capacity Act 2005 -- Assessment of capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 -- Provisions of Mental Capacity Act 2005 -- Mental Capacity Act 2005 -- Code of practice for Mental Capacity Act 2005 -- 21 Difficult patients and difficult situations -- Psychodynamic aspects of the management of psychiatric emergencies -- Managing difficult patients -- Understanding the psychodynamics of being mentally disordered.

Particular situations of difficulty -- 22 Emergencies in forensic psychiatry -- Police and court liaison -- Psychiatric expert evidence for court -- Problem areas in police/court liasion and reporting -- Prison psychiatry -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z.