Phases of Illness in Psychiatry

In psychiatry, there are phases that a patient will be in that helps doctors determine what therapy is required in order to treat them efficiently.

What is Remission in Psychiatry?

It is the absence of minimal symptoms, for the patient to return to normal functioning.

Acute Phase

The acute phase of treatment is to have a goal of remission of the acute symptom.

Response is when a patient shows good improvement (with or without a remission), usually a 50% reduction in the symptoms.

Continuation Phase

To stabilize the patient’s remission and prevent relapse, which is a return of symptoms of the acute phase,  or continuation, or having another of the original episode. The pharmacotherapy that led to remission is usually maintained during the continuation phase.

Maintenance Phase

Recovery is when the episode of illness is over and presents with the option of the patient to either discontinue the treatment or continue maintenance therapy with the goal of preventing any new episodes. 

Following recovery, if any episode comes into play then it is considered to be a recurrence.

An example would be a patient is treated after attempting to commit suicide. In the question stem if the patient states he feels 50% than before during the treatment than the patient is in response in the acute phase.