ABSTRACT
Definitions of emergency psychiatry vary, and in some instances, overlap with those of crisis intervention. Some authors emphasize urgency and define emergency as a clinical situation that demands evaluation and management within a given time, usually a matter of hours. Some pragmatists simply define a psychiatric emergency by the location in which it occurs. Individuals who seek help themselves or who are brought in to an emergency or health facility by family, friends, or police for a psychiatric problem define themselves as an emergency. The bio-psycho-social model attempts to place the cause for a psychiatric illness or emergency into its biological, social, and psychological contexts. It recognizes the very unique interplay of such factors in each individual and applies evaluations on an individual basis. Disorders which may manifest themselves in a behavioral manner have differential diagnoses, just as do seizures, headaches, and abdominal pain, although not the same differential.
