Assaultiveness in Psychiatric Patients and Approach to Assaultive Patients

Assaults by psychiatric patients are serious occupational exposures for mental health professionals. These assaults may result in injuries, transient or persistent disabilities, severe psychological stress including posttraumatic stress disorder, and death, and cause clinical and economic burden. This issue attracts scant attention when considering its importance. Because these assaults are considered by victims as a part of their jobs and are not verbalized, they do not take legal actions. It has been shown that 5-48% of psychiatrists are subjected to violence by patients and patients' relatives, and 40-50% of residents are physically violated during their 4-year residency training. Other healthcare personnel are also emotionally, verbally and physically violated by patients, patients' relatives and visitors. It is of importance to provide security for staff members who are at high-risk for these assaults and continuous training on these issues should be provided for employees. In this article, the causes of assaults by patients and approaches to assaultive patients (pharmacological treatment and other precautions) are reviewed.