Liaison psychiatry 3500313 225748913 2008-07-15T05:54:38Z Justinmarley 7392608 {{articleissues|refimprove=July 2008|cleanup=July 2008|expert=Medicine|essay=July 2008|or=July 2008}}{{worldview}} '''Liaison psychiatry''', also known as '''consultative psychiatry''' or '''consultation-liaison psychiatry''' is the branch of [[psychiatry]] that specialises in the interface between [[medicine]] and psychiatry, usually taking place in a hospital or medical setting. Liaison psychiatry has areas of overlap with other distinct disciplines including [[psychosomatic medicine]], [[health psychology]] and [[neuropsychiatry]]. ==Scope of Liaison Psychiatry== "Consults" occur when the primary care team has questions about a patient's mental health, or how that patient's mental health is affecting his or her care and treatment. The psychiatric team works as a "liaison" between the medical team and the patient. Issues that arise include [[capacity (law)]] to consent to treatment, conflicts with the primary care team, and the intersection of problems in both physical and mental health, as well as patients who may report physical symptoms as a result of a [[mental disorder]]. Liaison psychiatry involves managing patients who have attempted [[suicide]] in a hospital setting, other forms of [[self-harm]] or who have [[depression]], [[delirium]] or [[psychosis]]. ==History== The history of liaison psychiatry is partly a history of psychiatry and medicine. [[Galen]] was highly influential for over 1500 years in medicine particularly advocating the use of experimentation to advance knowledge. The polymath physician [[Avicenna]] produced many insights into medicine but only became influential in Western medicine when [[William Harvey]]'s elucidation of the circulatory system forced a re-evaluation of [[Galen]]'s work. The French philosopher [[Rene Descartes]] began the dualistic debate on the division between mind and body. [[Johann Christian August Heinroth]] is credited with the origination of the term psychosomatic illness. At the beginning of the 19th century [[Johann Christian Reil]] created the term psychiatry whilst the polymath [[Benjamin Rush]] wrote ''Diseases of the Mind''. The philosopher [[Spinoza]]'s concept of [[conation]], [[Mesmer]]'s development of [[hypnosis]] together with [[Charcot]]'s refinement of this technique influenced [[Sigmund Freud]] who's development of [[psychoanalytic theory]] was to have a profound impact on the development of liaison psychiatry. Under the guidance of Alan Gregg, psychoanalysis impacted on hospital medicine through figures such as [[Franz Alexander]], [[Stanley Cobb]] and Felix Deutsch. Edward Billings first coined the term "liaison psychiatry." The publishing of two texts ''A Handbook of Elementary Psychobiology and Psychiatry'', by Billings, and ''Psychosomatic Medicine'', by Edward Weiss and O Spurgeon English, outlined the theoretical foundations for the developing field. [[George L. Engel]] is considered to have been one of the most important figures in the development of liaison psychiatry and coined the term "Biopsychosocial Model" which overcame divisions created by Cartesian Dualism and was to have wider repercussions on psychiatric practice.{{fact|date=July 2008}} In the [[United Kingdom]], the Faculty of Liaison Psychiatry was established within the [[Royal College of Psychiatrists]] in 1997. The European Association for Consultation Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatics also produced a set of guidelines for training in Liaison Psychiatry.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.jpsychores.com/article/PIIS0022399906005034/fulltext | title=EACLPP Training Guidelines |accessdate=2008-07-05|publisher=EACLPP.org}}</ref> The [[American Psychiatric Association]] formally recognized C-L psychiatry as a subspecialty in 2004, with its own sub-specialty board exam. The profession debated about the best term for this specialty, finally settling on "Psychosomatic Medicine". ==References== <references /> ==External links== * [http://www.eaclpp.org/ The European Association for Consultation Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatics] * [http://www.psychosomatic.org/ American Psychosomatic Society] * [http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/college/faculties/liaison.aspx The Royal College of Psychiatrists - Faculty of Liaison Psychiatry] {{Psychiatry}} [[Category:Psychiatry]] [[es:Psiquiatría de enlace]]