Main description:

A psychiatric assessment is a structured clinical conversation, complemented by observation and mental state examination, and supplemented by a physical examination and the interview of family members when appropriate. After the initial interview, the clinician should be able to establish whether the individual has a mental health problem or not, the nature of the problem, and a plan for the most suitable treatment. Essentials of Psychiatric Assessment provides the resident or beginning psychiatrist with a complete road map to a thorough clinical evaluation.

Contents:

1: Introduction Information Necessary to Be Obtained; Site of the Clinical Evaluation; Methods of Obtaining Information; Methods of Interviewing; Initiating an Interview; Strategies to Get the Patient's Rapport; Techniques to Get Information 2: Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry Disturbed Consciousness; General Appearance Abnormalities; Disturbance in Behavior; Disturbance of Language and Speech; Disturbance of Mood and Affect; Thought Disorders; Perceptual Disorders; Disturbance of Orientation; Disturbance of Attention and Concentration; Memory Disturbance, Evaluation of Knowledge Base; Abstraction Abnormalities; Intelligence; Abnormal Insight and Judgment; Cortical Functions; Gender Identity; Disturbance of Self 3: The Psychiatric Interview Outline of Psychiatric History; Identification Data; Chief Complaints; History of Present Illness; Personal History; Mental State Examination; Medical Assessment of Psychiatric Patients; Psychological Testing; Investigations in Psychiatry; 4: Special Considerations Assessment of Children and Adolescents; Emergency Evaluation; The Violent and Aggressive Patient; Suicide; Forensic Assessment; Evaluation of Capacities in Psychiatry; Bibliography