Psychiatric history and the mental state examination
How to take a psychiatric history, perform a mental state examination, assess risk and gather collateral, with the uses and limits of rating scales.
Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026
Psychiatry
Mental illness and behaviour: assessment, diagnosis, psychological treatment and psychiatric drugs.
Introduction
Psychiatry is the care of disorders of mood, thought, behaviour and perception. The diagnosis rests on a careful history, a structured mental state examination and an honest assessment of risk, because few conditions have a blood test or a scan that decides.
This section starts with assessment and treatment, then childhood disorders, psychosis and mood disorders, anxiety and trauma, substance use and eating disorders, and finally the emergencies, organic disorders and special groups.
Every topic uses the same layout: a short summary, what you should be able to do afterwards, the mechanism, the clinical picture, tests, treatment and the traps. Doses, thresholds and criteria are checked against named guidelines and shown with their source, because guidelines and countries sometimes differ.
How to study psychiatry
Learn psychiatry by the diagnostic criteria and the one question that separates look-alikes: how long, how severe, and what else could explain it, such as drugs, medical illness or delirium. Always ask about suicide and about harm to others.
Learn the high-yield drug facts: the first-line treatment for each disorder, the serious adverse effects, the monitoring and the emergencies such as neuroleptic malignant syndrome, serotonin syndrome, lithium toxicity and withdrawal states. The check-yourself questions at the end of each topic test them a few days later.
Link psychiatry to other chapters: delirium and dementia meet neurology, eating and substance disorders meet gastroenterology and emergency medicine, and perinatal conditions meet obstetrics.
Contents by part
The topics below are in teaching order. Each part builds on the one before it.
- Assessment and treatment. The psychiatric history and mental state examination, the main treatments and the law that governs them.
- Psychiatric history and the mental state examination
- Antidepressants and mood stabilisers
- Antipsychotics and their adverse effects
- Benzodiazepines, anxiolytics and hypnotics
- Electroconvulsive therapy and neuromodulation
- Psychotherapies: CBT, psychodynamic, DBT and family therapy
- Mental health legislation, capacity and consent
- Childhood and developmental disorders. Attention deficit, autism, intellectual disability, tics and the psychiatry of children and adolescents.
- Psychosis and mood disorders. Schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, grief, and the postpartum psychiatric emergencies.
- Anxiety, trauma and related disorders. Generalised anxiety, panic and phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress and dissociation.
- Substance use and eating disorders. Alcohol, opioids, tobacco, cannabis and stimulants, and the eating disorders.
- Emergencies, organic and special groups. Delirium, dementia, catatonia, agitation, suicide risk, sleep, personality, older people and gender identity.
Topics
Antidepressants and mood stabilisers
Pharmacology, adverse effects, interactions, discontinuation, monitoring and guideline roles for antidepressants and mood stabilisers.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Antipsychotics and their adverse effects
Drug-class guide to antipsychotics: typical and atypical agents, receptor actions, doses, indications, side effects, monitoring, interactions and special.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Benzodiazepines, anxiolytics and hypnotics
Drug-class guide to benzodiazepines, Z-drugs and buspirone: mechanism, uses, dependence, withdrawal and safe prescribing.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Electroconvulsive therapy and neuromodulation
ECT and neuromodulation: indications, consent, technique, adverse effects, aftercare, and evidence from NICE, APA and RCPsych.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Psychotherapies: CBT, psychodynamic, DBT and family therapy
Principles, indications and practice of CBT, psychodynamic, dialectical behaviour (DBT) and family therapy, plus MI, stepped care, and therapist skills.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026
Mental health legislation, capacity and consent
Capacity to decide, consent, compulsory admission and treatment, children, and confidentiality in mental health care, across UK, US and international law.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
A chronic neurodevelopmental disorder of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity: criteria, assessment, treatment and outcomes across the lifespan.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Autism and disruptive behavioural disorders
Autism spectrum disorder alongside oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder and intermittent explosive disorder: presentation, diagnosis, assessment.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Intellectual developmental disorder
A neurodevelopmental condition defined by limits in intellectual and adaptive functioning that begin in childhood; causes range from genetic to acquired.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Tourette syndrome and tic disorders
Tic classification, Tourette syndrome, comorbid ADHD and OCD, CBIT, alpha-agonists and antipsychotics: assessment and treatment.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Child and adolescent psychiatry: anxiety, mood and self-harm
How anxiety, depression and self-harm present in children and adolescents, and how to assess, treat and safeguard them.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
Diagnosis and management of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders: symptoms, criteria, first-episode care, antipsychotics, clozapine, catatonia and.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Major depressive disorder
Diagnosis and management of major depressive disorder: criteria, severity, antidepressants, psychotherapy, treatment-resistant depression and relapse.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Persistent depressive disorder and adjustment disorder
Chronic persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) and adjustment disorder: criteria, differentials, screening and evidence-based treatment.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Bipolar and related disorders
Bipolar I, II and cyclothymic disorders: how manic and depressive episodes present, how to diagnose them, and how to treat and monitor safely.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Grief, bereavement and prolonged grief disorder
Grief, bereavement and prolonged grief disorder: normal grief, criteria and careChecked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Perinatal and postpartum psychiatric emergencies
Perinatal and postpartum psychiatric emergencies: postpartum psychosis recognition, infanticide-risk assessment, admission and treatment.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Generalised anxiety disorder
Excessive worry on most days for at least six months: criteria, screening, causes, CBT, drugs, stepped care.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Panic disorder and phobias
Panic attacks, panic disorder, agoraphobia and phobias: recognition, diagnosis and treatment using CBT, exposure and SSRIs.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Obsessive-compulsive disorder
A chronic and treatable condition of intrusive thoughts and rituals: how it is recognised, assessed, treated with ERP and serotonergic drugs, and when.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder
PTSD and acute stress disorder: criteria, risks, trauma-focused therapy, and drug treatment.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Dissociative disorders
Dissociative amnesia, identity disorder and depersonalisation-derealisation: criteria, trauma link, assessment and treatment.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Somatic symptom and related disorders
Somatic symptom, illness anxiety, and conversion (functional neurological) disorders: recognition, diagnostic criteria, separation from organic disease, and.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Factitious disorders, malingering and abuse
Recognising factitious disorder in self and others, malingering and all forms of abuse, with APA, WHO and NICE PH50 assessment and reporting guidance.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Substance use disorders: approach and treatment
How to recognise, assess and manage substance use disorders: criteria, screening, intoxication and withdrawal, and evidence-based treatment.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Alcohol use disorder
Chronic impaired control over drinking: screening, withdrawal management, thiamine and relapse-prevention pharmacotherapy.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Opioid use disorder and medication-assisted treatment
How opioid dependence develops, how it is diagnosed, and how methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone and naloxone are used to treat it and prevent overdose.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Tobacco, cannabis, stimulant and behavioural addictions
Treating tobacco, cannabis, stimulant, gambling and internet gaming addictions: recognition, withdrawal, management and prevention.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Anorexia nervosa
Recognition, diagnosis and management of anorexia nervosa, including assessment, weight restoration, psychotherapy, medical complications and refeeding.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Bulimia nervosa, binge eating and sexual disorders
Psychiatric disorders of eating and sex: criteria and complications of bulimia and binge eating, plus sexual dysfunction and paraphilic disorders.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Eating disorders: ARFID and medical complications
ARFID, binge-eating disorder, OSFED and the medical complications of eating disorders, with MEED risk assessment and refeeding care.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Delirium
Acute, fluctuating disturbance of attention and awareness: causes, diagnosis with CAM and 4AT, treatment and prevention.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Dementia: the neurocognitive disorders
Dementia as neurocognitive disorder: definition, diagnosis, management and safety.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Catatonia, NMS and serotonin syndrome
Catatonia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome: recognition, differential diagnosis and emergency management for medical students.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Agitation, aggression and rapid tranquillisation
How to recognise, de-escalate and safely treat acute agitation and aggression, including medical causes, rapid tranquillisation and post-incident review.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Suicidality and self-harm
Stepwise assessment and management of suicidal ideation and self-harm, with structured risk formulation, safety planning, means restriction and.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Sleep disorders
Insomnia, narcolepsy, parasomnias, circadian disorders and restless legs: classification, diagnosis and evidence-based management.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Personality disorders and defence mechanisms
How personality disorders are classified, diagnosed and managed, and how defence mechanisms range from immature to mature.Checked against sourcesVerified 1 November 2026Geriatric psychiatry
Geriatric psychiatry: late-life depression, psychosis, polypharmacy and Beers criteria, ECT in older people, and loneliness.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026Gender dysphoria and sexual orientation in clinical care
Definitions, assessment and inclusive care for gender dysphoria and sexual orientation across the life course, including transition and evidence review.Checked against sourcesVerified 31 October 2026