Patients with mental health issues present frequently in primary care and their consultations are often more challenging and time-consuming than those involving physical illness. For many patients there remains a significant stigma associated with mental ill-health and overcoming this adds further complexity to the consultation.

Improving the Mental Health Consultation provides a simple 'short circuit' tool to help GPs and other healthcare professionals to explain mental health problems simply and effectively to their patients. The tool is straightforward, easy to convey within the confines of a 10-minute consultation and extremely effective in helping to break down the stigma that patients often feel.

The tool has been developed and refined during over ten years of consultations in primary care. The detailed explanations of how to use the tool during the consultation, along with the extensive case studies, will help you to improve your mental health consultations and so help your patients deal better with their diagnosis.

From anxiety to OCD and chronic fatigue to fibromyalgia, the book also provides detailed coverage of diagnosis and classification using ICD-11 and DSM-IV, and management using the latest NICE guidelines.
Reviews
Pre-publication review
This book introduces a new consultation tool 'The Short Circuit' and makes a bold claim for it. But I think the author might be right: 'Helping a patient understand a complex concept in a short time is difficult...[using this tool] your consultations will become quicker and more rewarding and the patient will be able to overcome any stigma leading them to a healthier understanding of mental health and able to engage better with any treatments.' The style of the book is accessible and engaging and draws on the author's experience as a GP ... As such it is forged in the fire of rapid-paced frontline care for patients, but brings a thoughtful, reflective response. Please read it. Your patients will benefit and, quite possibly, you will too. -- Professor Kay Mohanna FRCGP MA EdD, Professor of Healthcare Education, University of Worcester

An important book
'This is an important book from a doctor's point of view and helpful from a patient's perspective. Developing patter, Short circuit theory - all these things can help a trainee or even already qualified doctors to create their own way of approaching mental health - helped me see mental health as a pathology like any other disease. I sure would recommend it.' Amazon reviewer

Book Information
ISBN 9781911510970
Author Shammy Noor
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Scion Publishing Ltd
Publisher Scion Publishing Ltd
Weight(grams) 428g
Dimensions(mm) 244mm * 172mm * 11mm