RESUMO
A retrospective and descriptive study of patients at the Crisis Intervention Unit of the Provincial Psychiatric Hospital of Holguin, Cuba, was undertaken in the first semester of 1998. In three hundred and nine patients we studied, the sociodemographic variables of age and sex as well as crisis type and triggering conflict areas, the diagnostic procedure used, biological therapeutic resources, and nosologic diagnostic at discharge. A slight predominance of males was found, and the greater number of patients was between age 25 and 44 years. The depressive and anxiety crisis were the most frequently found. Several diagnostic resources were employed. The multivalence treatment proved that the most used psychodrugs were tricyclic antidepresives and anxiolytics. The electroconvulsive therapy was employed only in 4 cases. The short psychotherapy modalities were applied in a high percentage of the studied cases prevailing the support, rational psychotherapies and handling attitude. The most frequent diagnostics were: Personality Disorders, Schizophrenia, Neurosis and Situational Disorders. The effectiveness of the Crisis Intervention Unit is presented as model for dealing with patients undergoing psychiatric crisis (AU)
