ABSTRACT
In this chapter, a general description of the common types of mental disorder encountered in forensic mental health services will be given. Within a book such as this, it is possible only to give a brief overview of how these disorders may present (i.e. the main signs and symptoms of each disorder). Aetiology (causation) and prognosis (long-term outcome) will not be covered. Treatment issues will be covered in Chapter 8 on treatments in mental health settings. Readers seeking a more in-depth coverage of mental disorders should consult one of the standard psychiatry texts, such as the Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry (Gelder et al. 2006) or the Companion to Psychiatric Studies (Johnstone et al. 2004). A detailed description of the symptoms that can occur in mental disorder is given in Sims’ Symptoms in the Mind: An Introduction to Descriptive Psychopathology (Oyebode 2008).
