These psychiatric problems need to be resuscitated, and these are the conditions that need to be rushed to the emergency department

Case 1: I felt like I was dying and called the 120 emergency room, but no problem was detected.

Lilia is the head of the HR department of a company. After graduation, she went from being a small ordinary intern to becoming a regular employee, to later being promoted to supervisor by her excellent working ability and people skills.

After being promoted to supervisor, Lilia's work became even busier, and in the last year, she often had a feeling of being overwhelmed, often experiencing chest tightness and discomfort, and sweating from time to time when the weather was not too hot.

It was not until late one night, when she was organizing her recent work, that the uncomfortable feeling came again, and it was much stronger than before.

After arriving at the hospital, the doctor in the emergency department rushed to do a physical examination for Lilia, especially a comprehensive examination of the heart, but the results were not abnormal, only some sinus tachycardia, simple treatment rest for a while, Lilia recovered.

Case 2: A father with mental illness, who used to just swear to himself against the wall, but recently has been hitting people all the time

A middle-aged man, aged 40, brought his father, Lao Wang, to describe his condition to the doctor. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia since he was in his fifties and has taken medication intermittently. The sudden death of his partner five years ago hit him so hard that his children have gone out to work, leaving him at home.

He used to do nothing more than talk to himself and get up in the middle of the night to curse at the wall, but lately, Lao Wang has been saying that someone is trying to harm him and that he either curses when someone passes by his vegetable garden or hits someone when they talk back.

Suspecting an increase in symptoms, the son rushed to take his father to the psychiatric department for a follow-up consultation.

These two cases above are very typical; case one is a panic attack and case two is schizophrenia accompanied by aggressive behavior, both of which are relatively common in psychiatry.

So, why would a psychiatric illness require emergency care, and isn't it a chronic illness?

Psychiatric patients are complex. Some patients have mild cognitive impairment and can be seen in general psychiatric outpatient clinics.

Some patients may suffer from disorders of consciousness, extreme excitement, or agitation may be prone to impulsive behavior, and may be at risk of self-harm or injury.

To resolve the patient's distress as soon as possible, prevent further aggravation of the condition and avoid adverse events, it is important to visit the emergency department promptly during an episode.

In particular, the following three "risky" situations should be highlighted.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder, also known as acute anxiety disorder, is, as the name suggests, an acute episode of anxiety disorder.

It is typically characterized by a sudden onset of intense fear and discomfort in the absence of obvious external stimuli, and a feeling of being out of control and close to death.

In this case, in the absence of an obvious cause in a visit to the cardiology department, psychiatric consultation should be made and the person is likely suffering from panic disorder and the symptoms associated with it are managed by oral medication.

With aggressive behavior

The first thing to do in this case is to control the violent behavior first, commonly through verbal reassurance and behavioral restraint.

The patient should then be seen by a doctor as soon as possible to adjust or add medication that has a significant sedative effect and is more effective in combating aggression. In some cases, physiotherapy may also be required to manage the condition more effectively.

Suicidal idealization

Suicidal behavior is the most significant risk factor for psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and systemic psychosis.

Patients with depression often have a desire to gain relief through suicide due to pessimism and extreme pessimism, combined with various physical discomforts.

Patients with schizophrenia, on the other hand, experience impulsive self-S mainly as a result of delusions or hallucinations.

Whatever the cause of the suicidal behavior or thoughts, it is important to seek medical attention or call a crisis intervention line for professional mental health counseling, rather than waiting for the incident to occur before going to the emergency department.