Use of Antipsychotic Medications to Treat Behavioral Disturbances in Persons with Dementia

Resource Document on the Use of Antipsychotic Medications to Treat Behavioral Disturbances in Persons with Dementia

Telehealth Services in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Addressing Potential Risks to Safety and Security

Telehealth services are critical to ensuring that people who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) have access to needed mental health and substance use care. At the same time, accessing services from home when an abusive partner is present can pose safety, security, and privacy risks to survivors of IPV and other household members.

The Management of Depression during Pregnancy: A Report from the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Objective—To address the maternal and neonatal risks of both depression and antidepressant exposure and develop algorithms for periconceptional and antenatal management. Method—Representatives from the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a consulting developmental pediatrician collaborated to review English language articles on fetal and neonatal outcomes associated with depression and antidepressant treatment during childbearing. Ar

Seclusion or Restraint

This resource document is intended to support psychiatrists and other healthcare clinicians who may utilize seclusion or restraint.

PositionStatement on Psychiatrist Input into the Design and Construction of Psychiatric Evaluation and Treatment Facilities

PositionStatement on Psychiatrist Input into the Design and Construction of Psychiatric Evaluation and Treatment Facilities

Psychiatric violence risk assessment

The APA published a Task Force report, “Clinical Aspects of the Violent Individual,” in 1974 (1). Since then, the assessment of violence risk by psychiatrists has assumed increased prominence (2, 3). At the same time, significant changes have taken place both in the contexts in which psychiatrists assess risk and in the techniques that help them do so.

Across State Line Psychiatric Consultation Considerations Addendum to Risk

In 2013, an APA Resource Document on “Risk Management and Liability Issues in Integrated Care Models” was developed.1 This document outlined liability issues in a new and emerging area of collaborative /integrated care. In this model psychiatrists’ expertise is leveraged through curbside consultations and caseload reviews to provide more effective care for mild to moderate behavioral health conditions in the primary care setting. With the advent of CPT codes for the Collaborative Care Model, the

Consensus statement on "Managing the risks of repetitive transcranial stimulation"

In response to the changing managed care environment, the APA Committee on Managed Care established a subcommittee to document the changes in managed care and to begin the process of thinking about alternative healthcare financing systems. The Committee undertook writing a resource document for APA members to identify and describe the changes that are occurring in the healthcare sector and to prepare them for changes that may occur so that psychiatry can be proactive in meeting these challenges

Approaches to Youth in Mental Health Crisis

This document provides an overview of contemporary approaches to youth in mental health crises with practical, solution-oriented recommendations. It provides developmental considerations when dealing with youth in crisis, the continuum of existing response models and encourages readers to understand their role in advocacy through clinical vignettes. The resource document emphasizes de-escalation and rapid linkage to clinical evaluation services and supports the APA’s goal of ensuring young peopl

Risk-Based Gun Removal Laws

In 2014, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published a “Resource Document on Access to Firearms by People with Mental Disorders,”1 which addressed the complex relationship between firearms, mental illness, suicide, and violence. The document highlighted the limitations of existing legislative strategies, such as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), in combating the problems of gun-related suicide and violence in the United States. It noted that registries like N

Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) white paper

Vagal nerve stimulation for treatment resistant epilepsy has been available in the United States since 1997, and improved mood noted in epilepsy patients led to studies examining the use of VNS for treatment resistant depression. VNS implantation consists of placement of the stimulator in the chest wall that is attached by wires tunneled through the skin to the left vagus nerve in the carotid sheath. Potential side effects include voice alteration, hoarseness, coughing, paresthesia, dyspnea and

How Psychiatrists Can Talk to Patients and Families About Race and Racism

This document supports the APA’s goal of addressing structural racism in clinical practice by linking existing literature on the impact of race on patients’ lives with race as experienced in the clinical encounter. It provides psychiatrists with the necessary tools to speak with patients about race in a sensitive and professional manner using clinical vignettes. Incorporating these tools should increase understanding of how race and racism impact patients’ lives, decrease bias and enhance the th