In the final episode of our introductory consult-liaison series, we are going to discuss catatonia, a surprisingly common condition seen on medical units as well as inpatient psychiatry. What is catatonia? What does it look like, and what conditions is it associated with? We’ll discuss the terminology associated with symptoms of catatonia. We’ll then discuss the catatonia exam, a physical exam that elicits signs of catatonia, and the Bush Francis Francis rating scale, a useful tool for diagnosing and monitoring catatonia. Finally, we’ll discuss treatment options including benzodiazepines, zolpidem, and ECT.

Photo credit: Franck Vervial, “Les poupees russes font grise mine,” Flickr

Episode Music Credit: Javier Suárez, Tumbling Dishes, Better With Music

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In this episode, we will discuss how to assess decisional capacity using the widely referenced New England Journal of Medicine article by Dr. Paul Applebaum as our framework. We’ll review the four relevant criteria to assessing decision making capacity. We’ll also discuss several other common questions that often come up with capacity: How is decisional capacity different than competency? Why might someone not have capacity? And what do you do when someone doesn’t have decisional capacity? We will explore these issues with multiple clinical vignette and examples.

Photo credit: Mathias Pastwa, “The Understanding,” Flickr

Episode Music Credit: Javier Suárez, Tumbling Dishes, Better With Music

Podcast: Play in new window | Download