Perspectives Approach to Psychiatry

Primer

The Perspectives Approach to Psychiatry is increasingly used as an alternative approach for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with psychiatric disorder, and is a valuable educational tool for teaching psychiatry to learners.[1] The foundations of the Perspectives approach was conceived by psychiatrists Adolf Meyer and Karl Jaspers. In 1986, the book The Perspectives of Psychiatry was published by psychiatrists Paul R. McHugh and Phillip R. Slavney, which gave this approach its name.[2]

The Perspectives approach requires a systematic consideration of the patient's psychiatric condition from 4 perspectives:

  1. Disease
  2. Dimensional
  3. Behaviour
  4. Life Story

Resources

Books

Articles
Slides

References

1) McHugh, P. R., & Slavney, P. R. (2012). Mental illness—comprehensive evaluation or checklist?. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(20), 1853-1855.
2) Peters, Matthew E. et al. Beyond the DSM: The Perspectives of Psychiatry Approach to Patients. The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders 14.1 (2012)