Emergency treatment of depression

Abstract

Psychiatric emergencies are common and each case presents particular problems and difficulties. This article focuses on one subset of psychiatric emergencies, that of severe depression, and on the role of and use of antidepressant treatments in these conditions. The clinical situations to be discussed in this article include active suicidality, severe psychomotor retardation (with associated problems of hydration and nutrition), affective psychosis, bipolar depression and behavioural disturbance.