Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psych > Mental Status Exam > Flashcards

Mental Status Exam Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

What are the 8 points of a mental status exam?

A

A Snake Moves Toward Prey Silently In Jungles

  • Appearance, Attitude & Behavior
  • Speech
  • Mood & Affect
  • Thought Form/Process & Content
  • Perception
  • Sensorium/Cognition
  • Insight
  • Judgment
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Appearance, Attitude & Behavior

A
  • Describe overall appearance, emphasizing abnormalities
  • Describe attitude toward examiner
  • Describe physical behavior
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Speech

A
  • Describe speech (not content of speech, but distinctive qualities of speech: rate, tone, rhythm, volume), emphasizing abnormalities
  • **Normal: “fluent, w/ normal rate, rhythm & volume” **
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Mood vs. Affect

A
  • Mood – describes patient’s subjective, internal state of feeling
  • Affect – describes patient’s objective, external appearance of feeling
  • Normally, affect is an accurate reflection of mood
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Describing the mood & affect of patients

A
  • Mood & affect are normally congruent, but may be incongruent in some psychiatric syndromes
  • Many terms can be used to describe mood & affect
    • Euphoric, elated, depressed, hopeless, irritable, anxious, frightened, etc.
  • Affect is appropriate when it “fits” w/ the patient’s situation & feelings
  • Patients w/ psychotic disorders often have inappropriate affect
  • Comment on range, intensity & appropriateness
  • **A normal state of mood & affect: “euthymic, appropriate, congruent” **
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Thought Form/Process

A
  • Thought form (process) describes how the patient is thinking
  • Normal thought form: “logical, linear, goal-oriented”
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What are the abnormalities of thought form? (9)

A
  • Thought blocking
  • Poverty of thought
  • Circumstantiality
  • Tangentiality
  • Loose associations (derailment)
  • Clang associations
  • Neologisms
  • Perseveration
  • Flight of ideas
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

mind frequently goes blank

A

**Thought blocking **

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

very little thought occuring

A

**Poverty of thought **

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

takes a long time to get to the point

A

**Circumstantiality **

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

logical, but never gets to the point

A

Tangentiality

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

logical connections btwn thoughts break down

A

Loose associations (derailment)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

thoughts are expressed through sounds rather than meaning

A

Clang associations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

new words/phrases invented

A

Neologisms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

being stuck on a single thought

A

Perseveration

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

rapid jumping from thought to thought (mania)

A

Flight of ideas

17
Q

**Thought content **

Definition

Abnormalities (9)

A
  • Thought content refers to what the patient is thinking
  • Abnormal thought content needs to be explored & documented
    • Delusions
    • Ideas of reference
    • Ideas of influence
    • Obsessions
    • Compulsions
    • Phobias
    • Hypochondriacal symptoms
    • Thoughts of suicide
    • Thoughts of violence
18
Q

fixed, false beliefs impervious to disproof or argument; many types

(grandeur, persecution, somatic, paranoid, etc)

A

Delusions

19
Q

belief that TV, radio, etc. are talking to or about patient

A

Ideas of reference

20
Q

belief that another person or force is controlling some aspect of patients thoughts or behavior

A

Ideas of influence

21
Q

upsetting, unstoppable thoughts

A

Obsessions

22
Q

irresistible urge to act on obsessional thoughts

A

Compulsions

23
Q

irrational, troublesome fears

A

Phobias

24
Q

consuming bodily concerns w/o medical cause, but not delusional

A

Hypochondriacal Symptoms

25
Q

always inquire & document in careful detail, intervene if necessary

A

Thoughts of suicide

Thoughts of violence

26
Q

What are the two most common perceptual disturbances?

A

Hallucinations

Illusions

27
Q

What is a hallucination?

A
  • Most common type of perceptual disturbance (Schizophrenia)
  • Sensory perceptions in any modality (auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory) that are internally generated
  • To patients, they are as real as the externally generated perceptions everyone experiences
28
Q

What is an illusion?

A

Misinterpretations of externally generated perceptions
Often vague

29
Q

What is sensorium?

A

patient’s state of awareness & cognitive abilities

30
Q

What are some examples of sensorium? (11)

A
  • Alertness – somnolent, obtunded, clouded, fluctuating
  • Orientation – to person, place, time, situation
  • Concentration – serial 7s or 3s, reverse spellings
  • Memory – immediate (retention & recall), recent, long-term
  • Calculation – everyday money questions work well
  • Fund of knowledge – geography, current events
  • Abstract reasoning – interpretation of proverbs, similarities
  • Reading – doctor writes “close your eyes”, then patient reads & does it
  • Writing – patient is asked to write a complete sentence
  • Visuospatial ability – patient is asked to draw a clock face, interlocking pentagons, or a cube
  • Estimated intelligence – “above/below/about average”
31
Q

Insight

Definition

When is it lacking

A
  • Broad term that can describe a patient’s capacity for self-reflection, awareness of illness, understanding of his/her present situation
  • Often lacking in patients w/ chronic psychotic disorders (schizophrenia), delirium or severe personality disorders
  • Lack of insight makes treatment more difficult & prognosis worse in chronic disorders
  • Deficits in insight often become obvious during a psychiatric interview, but may be less so in chronic patients
32
Q

Judgment

Definition

Impairment

A
  • Refers to a patient’s capacity to make reasonable decisions
  • Judgment can be temporarily impaired (intoxication) or chronically impaired (dementia)
  • Questions to assess judgment can be asked in the MSE
  • But judgment or lack thereof is often evident in the patient’s recent behavior
33
Q

What is the Folstein Mini-Mental Status Exam?

A
  • 1-page, structured instrument that covers most of the “Sensorium” items
  • Numeric score generated (30 pts = no gross cognitive defects)
  • ~10 minutes
  • Emphasis on cognition
  • Delirious patient will score low
  • Psychotic patient may or may not do well
  • Relatively objective way of monitoring cognitive changes

Psych (23 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions