Psychiatric emergencies are acute disturbances of behavior, thought, or mood — most often precipitated by medications or substances acting on neurotransmitter systems — that require immediate treatment because, left untreated, they can progress to self-harm, harm to others, or harm to the environment. Each emergency is defined by a distinct pharmacologic mechanism (excess serotonergic tone, sympathetic activation from monoamine displacement, central dopamine blockade, or CNS depressant withdrawal), a characteristic constellation of neurologic and autonomic signs, and a mechanism-targeted antidote or supportive intervention. As a subdomain of psychiatric pharmacology, these syndromes illustrate the broader principle that disruption of a specific neurotransmitter pathway (serotonin, monoamines/catecholamines, dopamine, or GABA) produces a predictable, reversible clinical toxidrome.
Psychiatric emergencies are acute disturbances of behavior, thought, or mood — most often precipitated by medications or substances acting on neurotransmitter systems — that require immediate treatme…