Care of Psychiatric Patients: The Challenge to Emergency Physicians

Abstract

Psychiatric patients frequently present to the emergency department (ED) for care when they are in crisis. Recent studies demonstrate about 10% of all ED patients present with psychiatric illness.1 However, this is not an adequate estimate of the number of patients because many of these patients do not have a psychiatric diagnosis. Two recent studies have demonstrated that 45% of adults and 40% of pediatric patients who present to the ED with non-psychiatric complaints have undiagnosed mental illness.2-3 These studies did not determine whether these psychiatric illnesses affected the patients’ presentation. The purpose of this article is to discuss disparity and challenges in caring for these patients.