Citation

Palombini E, Richardson J, McAllister E, Veale D, Thomson AB. BJPsych Bull 2021; 45(2): 109-114.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Royal College of Psychiatrists)

DOI

10.1192/bjb.2020.70

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Mental health staff may have limited exposure to emergencies associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during postgraduate training. The first time they encounter a person in the midst of severe obsessions, or one who has compulsively self-harmed in response to such obsessions, might be when working on call covering the emergency department. This educational article presents the lived experience of one of the authors as a clinical scenario. The scenario is then used to illustrate the severity of disability and the rates of self-harm and suicide-related mortality caused by OCD. The recognition and assessment of OCD is described, along with what helps in emergency situations. Written informed consent was obtained for the publication of clinical details.

Language: en

Keywords

Self-harm; phenomenology; consent and capacity; emergency psychiatry; obsessive–compulsive disorder