Mental State Flashcards
what are the areas of mental state exam
appearance, speech, thought form, mood and affect, disorders of thought content, perception, cognition, insight
what are you looking for in appearance
general health, posture, tattoos, piercings, injection sites, well kempt?, mannerisms, eye contact, rapport, abnormal movements- result of antipsychotics or tics, stereotypy, mannerisms, motor activity
what are you looking at in speech
tone, rate, volume
what is normal speech
spontaneous, relevant, logical, coherent
what is circumstantial speech
takes a long time to get to the point
what is perseveration (speech)
repeating of words or topics suggests frontal lobe dysfunction, schizophrenia, OCD
what is neologisms (speech)
made up words- can occur in schizophrenia
what are some abnormal forms of thought
flight of ideas (abnormal connection), loosening of associations (no discernible link, Knights move), thought block (subjective experience of thought is abnormal)
what happens in pressured speech (can occur in mania)
incr rate and volume
what happens to speech in depression
poverty of speech and thought block- decr tone, rate, vol
what is mood
patients underlying emotion report subjective mood and objective- euthymic, dysthymic, hyperthymic
what is affect
observed external manifestation of emotion. blunted (schizophrenia), labile, irritable, suspicious
what is labile
excessively changeable
what is incongruous (affect)
grossly out of tune with subjects being discussed eg laughing about bereavement
what is the affect described as if it is normal and no abnormality
reactive
what are some disorders of thought content
negative, ruminations, beliefs, delusions, phobias, obsessions, depersonalisation, derealisation, ideas of reference