mental status Flashcards
mental status can be defined as ?
a person’s emotional and cognitive functioning
optimal mental functioning
aims toward simultaneous life satisfaction in work, caring relationships, and within the self.
Consciousness is
Being aware of one’s own existence, feelings, and thoughts and of the environment. This is the most elementary of mental status functions.
mental health status is based on
conciousness, language, orientation , , attention , memory, reasoning thought content , perceptions
a mental disorder is
Clinically significant behavioral emotional or cognitive syndrome that is associated with significant distress or disability involving social, occupational, or key activities
Organic disorders
Due to brain disease of known specific organic cause (e.g., delirium, dementia, alcohol and drug intoxication, and withdrawal)
Psychiatric mental illnesses
Organic etiology has not yet been established (e.g., anxiety disorder or schizophrenia)
Mental status assessment documents a dysfunction and determines how that dysfunction affects self-care in everyday life.
mental disorders can be
organic or inorganic
When do we need to perform a full mental status evaluation
- Behavioral changes
Suggests an anxiety disorder or depression
Behavioral changes - Memory loss, inappropriate social interaction
- Brain lesions( trauma
- Aphasia (Impairment of language ability secondary to brain damage)
-Symptoms of psychiatric mental illness
Especially with acute onset - Initial screening
Suggests an anxiety disorder or depression( need to set a baseline)
what could affect interpretation of findings?
Known illnesses or health problems:
Such as alcoholism or chronic renal disease
Medications:
-Side effects of confusion or depression
Educational and behavioral level:
Note factor as normal baseline( actual maturity level might be alot less than actual age), developmental age of what is shown
Stress responses observed in social interactions, sleep habits, drug and alcohol use
objective appearance
posture, how they are dressed, body movements( ticks, voluntary, deliberate, , grooming and hygiene
level of conciousness, ( AA, alert and awake )
- facial expression, apropriate to situation
objective : behavior
Speech - Judge the quality of speech, noting that person makes sounds effortlessly and shares conversation appropriately.
Pacing, articulation, and word choice
Mood and affect -
Mood is how they usually there are( anxious, happy, etc)
affect is what they are displaying there live
discern orientation by asking questions such as
Time: day of week, date, year, season
Place: where person lives, address, phone number, present location, type of building, name of city and state
Person: own name, age, who examiner is, type of worker
objective behaviors : cognitive function
assess recent memory( Assess in context of interview by 24-hour diet recall or by asking time person arrived at agency) and remote memory , ask the person verifiable past events; for example, ask to describe past health, the first job, birthday and anniversary date
Aphasia
loss of ability to speak or write coherently or to understand speech or writing due to a cerebrovascular accident
