Mental Status Exam (MSE) Flashcards
Pertinent negative
Characteristics a client doesn’t show
Akathisia
Objective or subjective psychomotor restlessness
Mood
How a client feels over time - by self-report; “The Climate”
Affect
How a client appears to feel; “The Weather”
Lability
The degree to which mood/affect change in a given time
Appropriateness of mood
The degree of congruence between a client’s emotional expression and content of conversation
Circumstantial speech
Tendency to answer questions in tedious and unnecessary detail
Loose association
When thought coherence breaks down so the one idea skids into another that isn’t clearly related
Latency of response
How rapidly a client responds to questions
Neologism
Words made up by client that only have meaning to them
Echolalia
Client repeats words or phrases of the interviewer
Perseveration
When the client repeats words or phrases, or repeatedly returns to a point that has already been covered or mentioned
Poverty of speech
Little spontaneous speech or none at all
Delusions
Fixed false belief that cannot be explained by the client’s culture and education
Hallucination
False sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of a related sensory stimulus
Illusion
Misperceptions of actual stimuli
Hypnopompic and hypnagogic hallucinations
Hallucinations that occur during dream-like states when awakening or falling asleep. These are normative.
Insight
The client’s ideas about what is wrong
Judgement
The client’s ability to decide upon an appropriate course of action to achieve realistic goals
Overvalued ideas
Beliefs that continue to be held despite lack of proof as to their worth. They are not obviously false.
Thought block
Sudden stoppage of thought in the middle of a sentence
Euthymia
No marked affective disturbance displayed during interview
Blunted affect
Minimal display of emotion
Flat affect
Absence of all emotional reactivity
Psychomotor retardation
General slowing of movement, speed, and thought
Psychomotor agitation
Restlessness or muscular activity associated with mental tension
Pressure of speech
Client feels compelled to talk; difficult to impossible to interrupt
Orientation
4: time, place, person, and situation
