Mental State Examination

Question 1

Main bullet points of MSE

Answer 1

Appearance
Behaviour 
Speech 
Mood (subjective) 
Affect (objective)
Perceptions 
Thought 
Cognition 
Insight 

All Borderline Subjects Make A Proper Tough Criminal Investigation

Question 2

Appearance bullet points

Answer 2

General appearance 
Age
Race
Clothes 
Cleanliness

Question 3

Behaviour bullet points

Answer 3

Appropriate behaviour
Rapport
Engaged 
Eye contact 
Aggressive
Distracted 
Abnormal Movements

Question 4

Speech bullet points

Answer 4

Volume
Rate
Tone
Fluency 
Abnormal associations 
Flight of ideas

Question 5

Mood and Affect bullet points

Answer 5

Subjective

• Mood
• Anxiety

Objective

• Mood, facial expressions
• Congruence of affect

Question 6

Perceptions bullet points

Answer 6

Auditory hallucinations
Visual hallucinations 
Pseudo- hallucinations 
Illusions 
Imagery (PTSD)

Question 7

Thought bullet points

Answer 7

Thought process
Thought disorders
Thought content
- delusions
- over-valued ideas
- obsessive thoughts 
- impulses 
- thoughts of self harm
- thoughts to harm others

Question 8

Cognition bullet points

Answer 8

Attention 
Concentration 
Orientation (time, place, person)
Comprehension level 
Short term memory

Question 9

Insight bullet points

Answer 9

Are they aware they are unwell

Willingness to accept help

Question 10

Inability to answer question without giving excessive detail

Answer 10

Circumstantiality

Question 11

Wandering from a topic without returning

Answer 11

Tangentiality

Question 12

New word formations

Answer 12

Neologisms

Question 13

Ideas are related to each other because they rhyme or sound similar

Answer 13

Clang associations

Question 14

Incoherent speech where real words are strung together in nonsensical sentences

Answer 14

Word salad

Question 15

Unexpected and illogical leaps from one idea to another occur (extreme illogical leaps)

Answer 15

Knight’s move thinking

- seen in schizophrenia

Question 16

Leaps from one idea to another, with discernible links between them (extreme but slightly logical leaps)

Answer 16

Flight of ideas

Question 17

Repetition of words and ideas despite an attempt to change topic

Answer 17

Perseveration

Question 18

Repetition of someone else’s speech

Answer 18

Echolalia

Question 19

False unshakable (fixed) belief that is out-with of ones’ social norms and culture

Answer 19

Delusions

Question 20

Real world perception in the absence of a stimulus

Answer 20

Hallucination

Question 21

Consistent repetition of a movement

Answer 21

Stereotypy

Question 22

Mimicking of someone else’s behaviour

Answer 22

Echopraxia

Question 23

Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) = 0-17 = ?

Answer 23

Severe cognitive impairment

Question 24

Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) = 18-23 = ?

Answer 24

Mild cognitive impairment

Question 25

Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) = 24-30 = ?

Answer 25

No cognitive impairment