Psychiatric Emergencies Part 2

In this episode of the EM Basic podcast, Dr. Sheyna Gifford interviews Dr. Les Zun about psychiatric emergencies, focusing on the treatment of depressed but non-suicidal patients, interacting with family members, and Dr. Zun's drug recommendations for agitated patients. They discuss medical workups for acutely depressed patients without prior psychiatric history, differentiating between medical and psychological causes of depression, and the importance of patient safety and assessment following suicide attempts. The conversation covers the management of patients with somatoform pain disorders, the use of ketamine for agitation, and strategies for dealing with psychiatric patients boarding in the ED, including community resource utilization and discharge planning.