Aggression

Aggression and violence remain a central clinical, public health, and safety issue worldwide. In 1996 the World Health Assembly declared violence a major public health issue. As a clinician, you will have to evaluate aggressive patients. This can be a safety issue for your clinical team and the community. In this CME, violence and aggression will be considered together. Aggression is any behavior, including verbal threats, which involves attacking another person, animal, or object with the intent of harming the target. Similarly, violence is intentionally using physical force to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. This CME describes how to review possible causes of aggression as part of taking a comprehensive history and performing a mental status examination to make a diagnosis. The accurate diagnosis of the patient with aggression leads to proper treatment.