ABSTRACT
Clinicians regularly interact with patients who become agitated. There is a growing literature describing techniques to verbally de-escalate agitated patients. This chapter addresses a single issue regarding verbal de-escalation: getting the patient to stop shouting. Yelling provokes other patients, disrupts the milieu, and sometimes incites staff—all of which makes a bad situation worse. Respectfully and gently interrupting a patient to make sure that the clinician is “hearing what is wrong” affords a break in the shouting and an opportunity to direct the conversation in a more productive manner.
