Mental State Exam

Question 1

components of MSE

Answer 1

appearance
behaviour
speech 
mood
affect
thoughts
perception
cognition
insight

Question 2

what is included in appearance

Answer 2

does the patient look their age 
clothing 
physique 
personal hygiene 
tattoos/ signs of drug abuse
physical illness 
expression 
posture

Question 3

what is included in behaviour

Answer 3

what is the patient doing- is it appropriate 
psychomotor agitation 
expression
eye contact
rapport/ attitude

Question 4

what is included in speech

Answer 4

rate- fast/slow
quantity- minimal/complete absence/excessive
volume
tone
fluency + rhythm - articulate/clear /slurred

Question 5

what is meant by pressure of speech

Answer 5

rapid speech- motivated by urgency

Question 6

how does mood compare to affect

Answer 6

mood = how the patient thinks they are

affect = how you think the patient is

Question 7

types of mood

Answer 7

low/depressed 
anxious 
angry 
apathetic (no interest) 
elated

Question 8

what is included in affect

Answer 8

quality of effect

• sad/agitated/hostile
• euphoric/animated

intensity of affect
- normal, blunted, exaggerated, flat, heightened

extent to which affect changes
- restricted, reactive, labile

Question 9

what is a labile affect

Answer 9

easily changes between states

Question 10

what do you need to ask in relation to suicidality

Answer 10

suicidal ideation
thoughts of life not worth living
thoughts of wanting to self harm, methods, plans for suicide

Question 11

what is thought insertion

Answer 11

belief that thoughts can be put into the patients mind

Question 12

what is thought withdrawal

Answer 12

belief that thoughts can be removed from the patient’s mind

Question 13

what is thought broadcasting

Answer 13

belief that others can hear the patients mind

Question 14

what is a hallucination

Answer 14

a sensory perception without an external stimulus that the patient believes IS REAL
e.g. hears voices but no sound present

Question 15

what is a pseudo-hallucination

Answer 15

patient knows that what they are experiencing IS NOT REAL

Question 16

what is an illusions

Answer 16

misinterpreted perception e.g. mistaking a shadow for a person

Question 17

what is a preoccupation

Answer 17

not fixed, false or intrusive but have an undue prominence in a persons mind

Question 18

what is an obsession

Answer 18

an undesired, unpleasant, intrusive thought that cannot be suppressed

Question 19

what is an overvalued idea

Answer 19

an unreasonable sustained belief

e.g. perception of weight in anorexia

Question 20

what is a delusion

Answer 20

fixed, false belief

not modified by experience or reason

Question 21

examples of delusions

Answer 21

paranoid
grandoise
bizarre

Question 22

what is important to ask about with auditory hallucinations

Answer 22

2nd or 3rd person
number of voices
gender
content- what do they say 
do they command the patient to do things
does the patient feel compelled to act on commands

Question 23

what is included in cognition

Answer 23

orientation - time, place, person
attention + concentration
short term memory

Question 24

what is a neologism

Answer 24

creation of new words / phrases

Question 25

what is included in insight

Answer 25

4 A’s

1. awareness of symptoms
2. attribution of symptoms to a mental disorder
3. analysis of consequences of symptoms
4. acceptance of treatment