Emergency Psychiatry Glossary
100 terms total — 24 showing — Last updated 15 Sep 2026
psychiatric clearance
Clinical determination that a patient does not require immediate psychiatric intervention or hospitalization.
command hallucinations
Auditory hallucinations that direct the patient to perform specific actions, often representing high clinical risk.
competency evaluation
A formal assessment to determine if an individual possesses the mental capacity to make informed decisions about psychia...
contraindication screening
Systematic review of patient factors that may prohibit use of specific psychiatric medications or interventions.
CPEP
Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program providing specialized emergency mental health services.
CPI
Training program for crisis intervention and safe physical management of aggressive behavior.
crisis bed
A specialized short-term inpatient psychiatric bed designated for rapid access stabilization of patients experiencing ac...
crisis intervention techniques
Specialized verbal and behavioral strategies used to de-escalate acute psychiatric emergencies and establish therapeutic...
crisis stabilization unit
Short-term residential facility designed to provide intensive treatment during acute psychiatric episodes as an alternat...
danger to others
Legal criterion for involuntary psychiatric commitment based on substantial risk of serious physical harm to other perso...
Danger to Self
A criterion for involuntary psychiatric evaluation or commitment indicating that, as a result of a mental disorder, a pe...
De-escalation
A verbal and non-verbal intervention technique used by emergency psychiatry staff to reduce a patient's level of agitati...
decompensation
Deterioration in mental health functioning often requiring emergency psychiatric intervention.
Differential Diagnosis
A ranked list of possible diagnoses that could explain a patient's presenting symptoms, used in emergency psychiatry to...
disposition planning
Process of determining appropriate next level of care and placement for psychiatric patients following emergency evaluat...
Dissociative Fugue
A psychiatric emergency presentation in which a patient suddenly loses autobiographical memory and may assume a new iden...
Duty to Warn
A legal and ethical obligation for mental health clinicians to take reasonable steps to protect identifiable third parti...
elopement
Unauthorized departure of a psychiatric patient from a healthcare facility or treatment setting.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, occasionally used in emergency settings for acute trauma response...
EMTALA
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, federal law requiring emergency departments to provide medical screening and...
Excited Delirium
A clinical syndrome characterised by extreme agitation, hyperthermia, superhuman strength, and altered consciousness, of...
Excited Delirium Syndrome
A controversial medical and forensic term describing an acute state of extreme agitation, hyperthermia, and altered ment...
Four-Point Restraint
A physical restraint method in which all four extremities of a patient are secured to a bed frame, used in emergency set...
Grave Disability
A legal standard used in involuntary psychiatric holds referring to a person's inability to provide for their own basic...
gravely disabled
Legal standard describing inability to provide basic personal needs due to mental illness, justifying involuntary treatm...