[Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of consciousness disorders from the psychiatric viewpoint]

Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of disturbance of consciousness are often difficult, especially when occurring in the course of psychiatric diseases. Apart from discord in defining the term of consciousness it is not always easy to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative alterations of the disorders. The performance of an exact interview and a thorough clinical examination allows an estimation of the degree of dimming of consciousness as well as the possible causes. Disorder of Consciousness is often found in patients carrying out substance abuse but also in the course of other psychiatric diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, personality disorders and dissociative disorders. This article is dealing with the clinical approach towards patients experiencing alterations or disturbances of consciousness and is also trying to communicate innovations in the field of psychiatric diagnostics.