Mental Health Assessment Flashcards
What are the different types of risk?
- Suicide/self-harm
- Violence
- Vulnerability
- Alcohol/drugs
- Falls
What is a Risk Assessment?
Assessment of potential or actual risk, considers risk to immediate self and others
What is a historical risk factor?
Known to be concrete, history cannot be changed (what have they done/doing)
What are contextual risk factors?
What is going on currently (clinical & internal factors may be positive or negative)
What are situational risk factors?
What is the current situation/altered risk? For example their relationship status or social situation
What are the components of a Mental Status exam? (MSE)
- Appearance
- Behaviour/activity
- Speech
- Mood
- Affect
- Thought content
- Thought process
- Concentration/Attention
- Cognition
- Insight
- Judgement
What should we be looking out for with Appearence?
- What they look like?
- Posture
- Appear stated age?
- Grooming and hygiene (how they smell, are they scruffy?)
- Comment on anything unusual
What should we be commenting on with Behaviour/activity?
- Attitude towards the interviewer
- What are they doing?
- Are they polite and open? or more closed off
- Eye contact
- Are they sitting calm, or agitated
- Is their gait normal or unsteady
- Comment on anything unusual
What should we be commenting on with Speech?
- Quality and quantity of speech (are they using one-word answers or sentences?)
- Are they talking fast or slow?
- Are they interoperable?
What should we be commenting on with mood?
- Record what the patient says when you ask ‘How is your mood’
- If the patient answers vaguely, then ask more questions
- Ask ‘on a scale from one-ten (1 being sad) where would you put yourself?
What should we be commenting on with affect?
- How do they look like they are feeling?
- Describe their observable emotional state
- First describe their overall emotional tone, do they seem anxious? angry? euphoric?
- Next comment on the emotional range and liability (do they have limited emotional expression?, does it change from happy one second to tearful the next)
What should we be commenting on with the thought process?
- The connection between thoughts
- What is their thinking like?
- Is it organised or not?
- Describe the connection between thoughts
- Clanging (words are chosen on their sounds and rhythm)
What are the 6 types of thought processes?
From organised to disorganised:
- Linear
- Circumstantial
- Tangential
- Loose associations
- Flight of ideas
- Word salad
What is Linear thought process?
Talking from point A-B in a direct and logical manner, you can easily follow the train of thought
What is circumstantial thought process?
Start at point A, and add many irrelevant details. They eventually get to point B, but it does take a while. They share material that is not relevant to the purpose. May seem like they are getting off-topic, but then brings it back