Psychological assessment of the coloproctology patient

Abstract

In this chapter some of the key features of a psychological and psychiatric assessment of the coloproctology patient will be presented, illustrated throughout by appropriate case examples. Whilst it is recognised that most patients presenting to a gastroenterologist or coloproctologist will neither undergo nor require such an assessment, there are frequently occasions where such an assessment will help in the total management of the patient and his/her symptoms. In some instances it will substantially alter the planned management of his/her gastroenterological (GI) symptoms. The chapter is based predominantly on the author's clinical experience at St Mark's Hospital, UK (all of the cases described have been disguised to protect patient confidentiality). This is a hospital in which there is a history, going back for well over 20 years, of the involvement of a psychiatrist trained also as a psychotherapist, and latterly psychologists, in the clinical assessment and management of coloproctology patients, as well as in providing psychological understanding and teaching for the hospital staff [3, 5, 6, 10, 19, 43-46, 48-50]. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.