Citation

Hotopf M, Price A. Psychiatry 2009; 8(6): 212-215.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Medicine Publishing Company Ltd.)

DOI

10.1016/j.mppsy.2009.03.014

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Psychiatrists working in palliative care see a wide variety of diagnoses in the setting of advanced disease and bereavement. This article describes the key features of palliative care and some of the specific presentations of psychiatric disorders in this setting, including withdrawal, requests for physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, assessment of mental capacity, and patients with denial about their disease and its poor prognosis. The remainder of the chapter describes the problem of depression in the context of advanced disease. This includes a discussion of definitions and diagnosis, the potential adverse consequences of depression, and the assessment and management of depression. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; prognosis; psychotherapy; palliative care; psychiatry; sleep; depression; assisted suicide; major depression; bereavement; liaison psychiatry; review; euthanasia; cognitive defect; mirtazapine; serotonin uptake inhibitor; cancer; priority journal; vincristine; psychodynamics; behavior therapy; cognitive therapy; terminal disease; anxiety disorder; palliative therapy; mental capacity; problem solving; patient attitude; sepsis; interferon; family therapy; drug withdrawal; benzodiazepine; akathisia; delirium; corticosteroid; patient counseling; withdrawal syndrome; agitation; anemia; denial; hypoglycemia; antineoplastic agent; hypothyroidism; hypoxia; alcohol withdrawal; cancer palliative therapy; visual hallucination; hypercalcemia; thyrotoxicosis; hospices