S3: Definitions of Components of MSE

Question 1

psychomotor retardation

Answer 1

slowing of physical or emotional reactions

seen in schizophrenia and depression

Question 2

psychomotor agitation

Answer 2

excessive motor and cognitive activity

seen in mania/anxiety

Question 3

tics

Answer 3

repetitive jerky movements

Question 4

compulsion

Answer 4

urge to perform a repetitive or ritualized behavior

Question 5

echopraxia

Answer 5

involuntary repetition or mimicry of another person’s actions
seen in Tourette’s or autism

Question 6

akathisia

Answer 6

restless feeling compelling the pt to be in constant motion

common med/neuroleptic s/e

Question 7

catalepsy

Answer 7

waxy flexibility

seen in catatonic schizophrenia

Question 8

catatonia

Answer 8

marked decrease in activity, but can be alternating between hyperactivity and inactivity as well

Question 9

dystonia

Answer 9

involuntary muscle contraction causing slow, repetitive movement or abnl postures
seen in med s/e

Question 10

dyskinesia

Answer 10

difficulty or distortion in performing voluntary movements

seen in med s/e

Question 11

comatose

Answer 11

unresponsive to stimuli

Question 12

stuporous

Answer 12

responsive only to painful stimuli

Question 13

obtunded

Answer 13

slow response to stimuli

Question 14

lethergic

Answer 14

drowsiness

Question 15

alert

Answer 15

full awareness

Question 16

thought form

Answer 16

thought process - the way the person thinks

Question 17

circumstantiality

Answer 17

going overboard with details when responding/speaking

telling minute details that don’t matter or are irrelevant

Question 18

clanging

Answer 18

choosing words based on sound rather than meaning

Question 19

derailment

Answer 19

aka loose associations

words make sense but sentences don’t

Question 20

flight of ideas

Answer 20

going from one idea to the next, jumping all over the place

often with pressured, rapid speech

Question 21

neologism

Answer 21

making up new words or phrases

Question 22

perseveration

Answer 22

persistent repetition of specific words or concepts without any ext stimuli or after ext stimuli stopped

Question 23

tangentiality

Answer 23

responding without actually answering the question

Question 24

thought blocking

Answer 24

sudden disruption of thought or break in the flow of ideas

Question 25

word salad

Answer 25

aka incoherence

speech don’t make any sense – unrelated words joined together

Question 26

pressured speech

Answer 26

fast speech that is difficult to interpret

seen in bipolar mania

Question 27

distractible speech

Answer 27

sudden change in subject d/t something unrelated in the environment

Question 28

obsessions

Answer 28

intrusive and unwanted ideas always with pt despite making efforts to suppress them

Question 29

phobias

Answer 29

irrational or exaggerated fear

Question 30

thought broadcasting

Answer 30

thoughts can be heard by someone

Question 31

thought insertion

Answer 31

“someone is putting ideas in my mind”

Question 32

thought withdrawal

Answer 32

“someone is taking away ideas/memories from my head”

Question 33

ideas of reference

Answer 33

belief that everything refers to the patient specifically

Question 34

ideas of influence

Answer 34

belief that patient’s actions are being controlled by someone else

Question 35

poverty of speech

Answer 35

nonfluent speech with empty thought

a type of alogia

Question 36

poverty of thought

Answer 36

fluent speech with empty thought

a type of alogia

Question 37

illusions

Answer 37

misinterpretations of real external sensory stimuli

ex. thinking that the wind blowing in the curtain through the window is a person jumping out the window

Question 38

dissociation

Answer 38

feeling unconnected from own thoughts/identity

Question 39

depersonalization

Answer 39

sense of being outside of their body

“out of body experience”

Question 40

derealization

Answer 40

sense that environment they are in is not real

ex. Mal in Inception

Question 41

hallucinations

Answer 41

sensory experiences without external stimuli that feels vivid and real to the patient
can be auditory (MC in schizophrenia), visual (MC in organic conditions – shrooms), tactile (MC in etoh/benzo withdrawal), olfactory or gustatory

Question 42

registration/recall

Answer 42

can the patient repeat back something they just learned?

Question 43

recent/short term memory

Answer 43

can the pt remember something that happened earlier today?

Question 44

remote/long term memory

Answer 44

can the pt remember something from a long time ago?

Question 45

attention

Answer 45

ability to focus and direct cognitive process

Question 46

concentration

Answer 46

ability to focus and sustain attention over a period of time

Question 47

insight

Answer 47

ability to understand and acknowledge factors that influence a situation

Question 48

judgment

Answer 48

assessment of real-world problem-solving skills

Question 49

social judgment

Answer 49

subtle pt behaviors that are harmful to the pt and are contrary to societal acceptable behavior
“how will you get home today?”

Question 50

test judgment

Answer 50

pt’s prediction of how they will act in an imaginary situation
“if you found a stamped and addressed letter on the street, what would you do?”