Behavioral Emergencies - Common Symptoms and Causes

With a degree in psychology from Wayne State University, Jimmy Marwan Kassis serves as an emergency medical technician at Beaumont EMS. Jimmy Marwan Kassis has provided a wide range of pre-hospital emergency medical care, including behavioral emergencies.

Also known as a psychiatric emergency or behavioral crisis, a behavioral emergency is defined as an irregular behavior of a person, which poses a danger to the same person and the people around them due to lack of control. Often, the affected persons are not aware of the condition. In most cases, the necessary steps to control the condition are taken by the people around the individual.

Behavioral emergencies are often characterized by extreme agitation, such as yelling, lashing out, screaming, irrational thoughts, and flinging of objects. In some people, a behavioral emergency is common after substance abuse. For others, behavioral emergencies stem from a mental illness. Additionally, medical conditions that affect the brain and central nervous system, such as meningitis, traumatic brain injury, reduced blood circulation to the brain, and low blood sugar makes a person susceptible to behavioral crisis.