Assessment
These are the approved guidelines published by the South African Society of Psychiatrists to provide an overview on treatment and management of commonly diagnosed psychiatric illnesses. The guidelines include consensus recommendations, based on peer contribution and using the international evidence based guidelines that are suitable for the local South African health service.
Please note that parts of this guideline may be out of date, an update will be published as soon as it is available.
Based on the clinical characteristics, and awareness of the potential diagnostic pitfalls, i.e. substance/medically/other related psychiatric disorders, the assessment requires not only a careful history but also the possibility of toxic screening and physical investigation to rule out medically or substance-related presentations.