Mental Health Assessment

Question 1

What is a major reason that clients may not want to divulge they have a mental illness?

Answer 1

Because of the social stigma associated with mental illness

Question 2

What is something very important to consider when discussing mental illness with someone?

Answer 2

Be cautious with the language you use

Question 3

What are some mental health campaigns?

Answer 3

Movember
Bell let’s talk
Alcoholics Anonymous

Question 4

What is something simple that people can do to relieve mild depression?

Answer 4

Exercise, even as simple as walking

Question 5

There are many things that mental illness is, however there is one important thing that it is not. What isn’t it?

Answer 5

Mental illness is not the polar opposite of mental health. People can live “healthy” lives with mental illness.

Question 6

What is the most prevalent mental health disorder grouping?

Answer 6

Anxiety disorders.

Question 7

Why do practitioners tend to miss bipolar disorder a lot?

Answer 7

We only tend to see the depression part - b/c realistically, who would want to complain about the manic portions.

Question 8

Many of the issues of mental disorders are part and parcel with regular life. However, at what point do these symptoms become an issue?

Answer 8

When it starts to affect your day to day life and you are unable to cope

Question 9

What are some key concepts that characterize most mental health issues?

Answer 9

Tend to see a disruption in interpreting reality, disorganized thinking and impact on insight and judgement

Question 10

What is considered the bible of mental health disorders?

Answer 10

the DSM-V

Question 11

Illness with symptoms related to thinking and cognition, mood and affect, or behaviour.

Answer 11

Mental health disorders

Question 12

What are the different sources (general) of mental health disorders?

Answer 12

genetic, biological, social, chemical, psychological

Question 13

What is the major difference between the DSM-IV and V?

Answer 13

The DSM-IV had axes of disorders; now we have broad categories of disorders.

Question 14

What is one of the major critiques of the DSM-V?

Answer 14

Perhaps the categories are leading to overdiagnoses

Question 15

A lot of antidepressants have on their label that they may increase suicidal ideation. Why is that?

Answer 15

The ideations were always there, but now they have more energy to act out the suicide.

Question 16

Immigration itself can put a person at risk for developing ___________.

Answer 16

schizophrenia

Question 17

How do support networks function in mental illness?

Answer 17

For the most part, help with coping mechanisms and are a protective factor.

Question 18

What are some important things to ask if you are talking about suicide with a patient? How do you broach the topic.

Answer 18

Majority of evidence says go for the money shot - straight up ask.
Really want to know if they have a plan or not.

Question 19

False, fixed belief that isn’t rooted in reality.

Answer 19

Delusion

Question 20

For people with schizophrenia, the lucid moments may be worse. Why?

Answer 20

It may call into question all reality for them

Question 21

What is the acronym for Mental health assessment (physical exam)? What does it stand for?

Answer 21

ASEPTIC
A - appearance and behaviour
S - speech
E - emotion and affect
P - perception
T - thought process/content
I - insight and judgement
C - cognition

Question 22

Random array of words jumbled together, often seen in schizophrenics.

Answer 22

Word salad

Question 23

Words make sense themselves, but the sentences are not connected in a coherent way.

Answer 23

Flight of ideas

Question 24

Takes a long time to make a point since the conversation is indirect.

Answer 24

Tangientiality

Question 25

When the person is fixated on one single thing, excessively.

Answer 25

Perseverate

Question 26

Patient repeats what is said to them.

Answer 26

Echolalia

Question 27

Belief that a person is in love with you.

Answer 27

Erotamia

Question 28

When we do a mental health assessment as part of our physical examination, we tend to use a lot of ________ tools.

Answer 28

screening

Question 29

What is a mental health questionaire that is often used as a screening tool in hospitals?
Describe it.
What are some issues with it?

Answer 29

PHQ9 - patient health questionaire 9
Patient has to recall presence of symptoms in the previous 2 weeks.
May be hard to remember; halo effect (or the opposite); malingering, etc.

Question 30

What is a screening tool for GAD?

Answer 30

GAD7

Question 31

Screening tools help us understand if a patient is at risk for certain mental illnesses, but really help us in another way. What is it?

Answer 31

Gives us an idea of how to individualize our plan with patients.

Question 32

What is a common screening tool for detecting alcoholism?

Answer 32

CAGE questinair
C- cut down
A - annoyed
G - guilty
E - eye opener (Drink to get over hangover)

Question 33

A lot of time, people with mental illnesses feel as if they are a burden to their families. How can a nurse rephrase this?

Answer 33

It’s the disease that is the burden, not them.

Question 34

In regards to the burden of mental illness. What is the primary burden? What are the secondary burdens?

Answer 34

Primary - suffering the symptoms
Secondary
- carrying the label
- facing other’s judgement

Question 35

What is the approach we should be taking to mental health?

Answer 35

Recovery oriented approach

Question 36

___________ _______ limits the ability of people to access life opportunities, leads to the criminilization of illness behaviours, and limits access to general health care.

Answer 36

Community stigma