Psychiatrists Also Need Interview Training

Abstract

Much of the psychiatric morbidity which presents to general practitioners remains hidden, especially when the patient offers somatic symptoms or is already suffering from an established illness (Goldberg and Blackwell, 1970). This failure to recognize patients who need psychiatric help stems largely from inadequacies in the practitioner's interviewing skills (Goldberg and Huxley, 1980). Deficiencies in the content of their consultations which correlate with low recognition include the failure to screen for the possibility of psychiatric symptoms and the absence of any questions about the patient's family. Interviewing skills associated with a high detection rate include the establishing and maintenance of good eye contact, clarification of the patients' presenting complaints, picking up verbal and non-verbal cues, using open questions, and the ability to control the course of the interview.