{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T19:09:04Z","timestamp":1790104144963,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Royal College of Psychiatrists","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,3]],"date-time":"2021-12-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1638489600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BJPsych Bull"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Summary<\/jats:title><jats:p>Psychiatrists often order investigations such as blood tests, neuroimaging and electroencephalograms for their patients. Rationales include ruling out \u2018organic\u2019 causes of psychiatric presentations, providing baseline parameters before starting psychotropic medications, and screening for general cardiometabolic health. Hospital protocols often recommend an extensive panel of blood tests on admission to a psychiatric ward. In this Against the Stream article, we argue that many of these investigations are at best useless and at worst harmful: the yield of positive findings that change clinical management is extremely low; special investigations are a poor substitute for a targeted history and examination; and incidental findings may cause anxiety and further unwarranted investigation. Cognitive and cultural reasons why over-investigation continues are discussed. We conclude by encouraging a more targeted approach guided by a thorough bedside clinical assessment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1192\/bjb.2021.125","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,3]],"date-time":"2021-12-03T10:46:30Z","timestamp":1638528390000},"page":"152-156","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Psychiatrists should investigate their patients 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Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}]}}