Workshop V

It is a misconception to believe that there are no real psychiatry emergencies. One of the most challenging clinical settings in mental health is the acute psychiatry assessment, taking place in the psychiatric emergency department. During the last decades, psychiatric-related emergency department visits represent a substantial and growing number of emergency department visits. This is a very complex field, in which making the incorrect assessment can have life-and-death implications. The aim of this workshop is to present and discuss how to manage patients with acute psychiatric symptoms (with various conditions from suicidal ideation to acute psychosis), hoping that this workshop may help to promote a better understanding of the fundamentals of urgent psychiatric conditions, and to promote increased recognition of the importance of emergent psychiatry among medical students and trainees. Following a brief theoretical presentation (which will be focused on management of aggression, suicidal ideation and risk assessment) case vignettes will be included to contextualize the information provided. Finally, this workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to take part in activities which mirror emergency psychiatry-related scenarios, through role-play exercises.