Psychological crisis and general practitioners

SUMMARY A study was conducted to ascertain how often GPs encountered patients with psychological crisis and their means of tackling such cases. A questionnaire was administered to 47 GPs attending a training course on drug de-addiction orientation program. It was observed that failure in an examination (22.9%), break up of a love affair (16.8%) and the death of someone very close to the patient (14.9%) were among the common causes precipitating a crisis. Regarding the treatment techniques, reassurance, tranquilizers and referral to a psychiatric set-up were most commonly resorted to. 68.1% of the GPs were not at all satisfied with the treatment administered by them and 78.9% of them felt the need for further training in psychiatry. Implications of these findings are discussed.