What Is Excited Delirium?
The very definition of excited delirium is subjected to controversy. In a very strict sense excited delirium is a symptom characterized by a drastic disturbance in the patient’s behavior caused by the persistent abuse of drugs, usually cocaine. Recently though, excited delirium has been used to define a syndrome, usually appearing in exceptional stressful situations like arrests by the police. No matter of the definition though, the patient will try to unrestrain himself, will become aggressive and confrontational. Obviously with no accepted definition in place, the media attention that this issue has attracted lately didn’t make things any easier. In order for such a condition to be dealt with, it must first be recognized. The number of deaths associated with excited delirium also adds to the media frenzy and fuels the confusion. Why Is Excited Delirium Difficult To Recognize? As strange as it might seem, excited delirium is actually very hard to diagnose in the place where it occurs
