Assessment and management of agitation in psychiatry: Expert consensus.

Background: Psychomotor agitation is associated with different psychiatric conditions and represents an important issue in psychiatry. Current recommendations on agitation in psychiatry are not univocal. Actually, an improper assessment and management may result in unnecessary coercive or sedative treatments.

[Treatment initiation in psychotic and manic episodes: French attitudes collected by Focus Group].

An accurate treatment of first episodes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders has a significant impact on compliance and prognosis. However, existing therapeutic guidelines may be poorly respected and may concern only typical clinical situations. Medical attitudes in clinical practice have been collected and structured on the basis of small interactive meetings (Focus Group [FG]), and a synthesis of practical attitudes has been compared with updated guidelines.

[Psychomotor agitation, pharmaceutical sedation and psychiatric emergency in psychotic patients].

Psychomotor agitation, very common among psychiatric emergencies, raises the question of pharmaceutical sedation, its indications, and its issues, notably with regard to the observance in postemergency. A new approach to sedation places it within its therapeutic aim and also takes into account the sometimes harmful impact on the course of the patient's care. A pretherapeutical, analysis both clinical and environmental is crucial.