Client Mental Status Exam Functions

Question 1

Appearance

Answer 1

Facial expression, grooming, dress, gate, and so on

Question 2

Orientation

Answer 2

Awareness of time and place, events, and so on

Question 3

Speech pattern

Answer 3

Slurred, pressured, slow, flat tone, calm, and so on

Question 4

Affect/mood

Answer 4

Mood as evidenced in both behavior and client statements

Question 5

Impulsive/potential for harm

Answer 5

Impulse control with special attention to potential suicidality and or harm to others

Question 6

Judgement/insight

Answer 6

Ability to predict the consequences of his or her behavior, to make sensible decisions, to recognize his or her contribution to his or her problem

Question 7

Thought processes/reality testing

Answer 7

Thinking style and ability to know reality, including the difference between stimuli that are coming from inside themselves, and those that are coming from outside themselves (statements about delusions, hallucinations, and conclusions about whether or not a client is psychotic, would appear here)

Question 8

Intellectual functioning/memory

Answer 8

Level of intelligence and of recent and remote memory functions