Mental Status Exam Flashcards
When to preform a MSE
Risk assessment admission changes in patient after procedures every shift ongoing
Five Categories of Mental status Exam
General Description (appearance/speech/motor activity/interaction during interview) Emotional State (mood/affect) Experiences (Perception) Thinking (thought content/process)Sensorium/Cognition (loc/memory/concentration/calculation/information/intelligence/judgment/insight)
General Description
observed
eye contact
posture
Motor Activity
Akathisia
Bradykinesia
Catatonia
excessive activity (pacing, wringing hands)
retardation (slowing reactions)
muscular rigidity
Mood
subjective report of emotional state by patient
Mood questions
if suicide suspected
non-leading
how is your mood
asking to rate mood
should directly ask about thoughts of self-harm
Affect
Abnormal examples
observed flat restricted/blunted labile incongruent/inappropriate
Hallucinations
false sensory experience
Command hallucinations
tell patient to do something
Illusions
distorted perception to an existing sensory stimuli
Delusion
fixed, false belief
paranoid, grandiose or somatic (health related usually)
thought broad-casting
thoughts occur and can be heard by others
Thought Content
asked about
Thought Process
observed
Abnormal Thought Processes Circumstantial Tangential Flight of Ideas Loose Associates Word Salad Neologisms Thought Blocking Perseveration
unnecessary details before reaching goal
never reach goals but thoughts associated
rapid speech/abrupt topic changes
disrupted speech due to lack of association between thoughts
words totally unrelated
new ords created by patient
interruption in flows of speech
repetition of same words/phrases (not usual filler words)
