[Crisis intervention in dementia].

A crisis is an episode of acute disorganization with apparition of symptoms, leading the individual and his relatives to have recourse to the health system in emergency. It refers to a period of intra-psychic or interpersonal balance discontinuity. The management of the crisis, as it was proposed in psychiatric models since the seventies, aims not only to provide a psychological and immediate answer but also to use this crucial moment as an opportunity of change. Based on our experience in an acute care unit for demented patients, we discuss how the concept of crisis can be applied in psychiatric care of demented patients.