Mental Status ✔️Ans - defined as "a state of well-being in which every
individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with normal stresses
of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a
contribution to her or his community"
Consciousness ✔️Ans - Being aware of one's own existence, feelings,
and thoughts and of the environment. This is the most elementary of
mental status functions.
Language ✔️Ans - Using the voice to communicate one's thoughts and
feelings. This is a basic tool of humans, and its loss has a heavy social
impact on the individual.
Mood and affect ✔️Ans - Both of these elements deal with the
prevailing feelings.
Affect ✔️Ans - temporary expression of feelings or state of mind
mood ✔️Ans - more durable, a prolonged display of feelings that color
the whole emotional life.
Orientation ✔️Ans - The awareness of the objective world in relation to
the self. Able to name own person, place, and time
Attention ✔️Ans - The power of concentration, the ability to focus on
one specific thing without being distracted by many environmental stimuli.
Memory ✔️Ans - The ability to lay down and store experiences and
perceptions for later recall.
Recent memory ✔️Ans - evokes day-to-day events
remote memory ✔️Ans - brings up years' worth of experiences.
Abstract reasoning ✔️Ans - Pondering a deeper meaning beyond the
concrete and literal.
, Thought process ✔️Ans - The way a person thinks; the logical train of
thought.
Thought content ✔️Ans - What the person thinks—specific ideas,
beliefs, the use of words.
Perceptions ✔️Ans - An awareness of objects through the five senses.
The mental status exam (MSE) ✔️Ans - is the best tool for establishing
a psychiatric diagnosis.
The MSE includes ✔️Ans - a combination of observations, impressions,
and the interpretation of client responses and is analogous to the physical
exam in the formulation of an accurate diagnosis.
Components of the mental status exam include ✔️Ans - •: appearance•
behavior• speech• mood• affect• thought process• thought content•
cognition• insight/judgment
appearance ✔️Ans - provides important clues about their mental
status.
Assessment of appearancce ✔️Ans - involves the observation and
documentation of posture, dress, grooming, physical appearance (including
distinguishable markings such as scars or tattoos), facial expressions, level
of alertness, and attitudes.
Cultural Considerations ✔️Ans - A client's dress or tattoos can reflect
culture. For example, in the Samoan and Hawaiian cultures, men sometimes
wear a pareo which resembles a skirt. Tattoos may symbolize a client's
cultural identity or beliefs
Behavior ✔️Ans - refers to how the client presents themselves during
the examination.
Assessment of behavior ✔️Ans - eye contact, psychomotor activity
(increased or decreased), movements, mannerisms, stereotypies, and
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