ABSTRACT
Assessment may fall into the crisis category, where an urgent opinion and practical on-the-spot management is required. Examples might include:
The patient is threatening suicide and is in a dangerous situation, for instance on the hospital roof.
He is threatening violence to someone else.
He is behaving violently to property and/or persons.
He is disorientated, probably hallucinated and behaving in an unpredictable manner, and is potentially a danger to himself or others.
He is lying in a mute, withdrawn state, for instance in the intensive care unit.
He is so completely out of touch with reality that no rational talk is possible and there is an urgent need to assess whether this is an organic or a functional disorder.
