Mental Status Examination

Question 1

Define Mental Status Examination

Answer 1

A systemic assessment of an individual’s appearance, affect, behaviour, and cognitive processes

Question 2

True or False:

A Mental Status Examination reflects an ongoing timeline of the observations and impressions of a patient by an examiner

Answer 2

False

- it is a “snapshot” of the patient at a particular period of time

Question 3

What are the three things contained within the General Observations Category of the MSE?

Answer 3

1. Appearance
2. Psychomotor behaviour/activity
3. Attitude toward interviewer

Question 4

What should an examiner be describing when addressing the Psychomotor behaviour/activity?

Answer 4

Observe and note the individual’s behaviour during the interview
- posture, gait, motor coordination, facial expression

Question 5

Define Emotion in the context of the MSE

Answer 5

Individual’s experience of a feeling state

Question 6

Define Mood in the context of the MSE

Answer 6

A pervasive and sustained emotion that colours the person’s perception of the world
- what the person reports about their prevailing emotional state

Question 7

After receiving an answer in regards to an individual’s mood, what should the examiner do next?

Answer 7

Interviewer should probe to find whether this is typical or is a response to some recent life event
- is it a change?

Question 8

What is an EUTHYMIC mood?

Answer 8

A normal mood

Question 9

What is an EUPHORIC mood?

Answer 9

An elevated mood

Question 10

What is a DYSPHORIC mood?

Answer 10

A depressed/disquieted mood

Question 11

Define affect in the context of the MSE

Answer 11

The individual’s emotional responsiveness during the interview
- IS INFERRED BY THE EXAMINER from facial expressions, vocalizations, and behaviour

Question 12

In what terms is affect described?

Answer 12

Described in terms of its range, intensity, appropriateness, and stability

Question 13

True or False:

Affective range can be full or constricted

Answer 13

True

Question 14

What phrase describes limited emotional expression?

Answer 14

Blunted affect

Question 15

What phrase describes a near absence of emotional expression?

Answer 15

Flat affect

Question 16

True or False:

Stability of affect can be described as mobile or labile

Answer 16

True

- can be described as mobile (normal) or labile (wide range of strong emotions in a short period of time)

Question 17

What does fluency refer to in the context of the MSE?

Answer 17

Fluency refers to the apparent ease with which speech is produced

Question 18

Define pressured speech

Answer 18

Speech that is rapid and increased in amount and difficult to understand
- often associated with mania

Question 19

Define hallucinations

Answer 19

False sensory perceptions not associated with external stimuli
- not shared by others

Question 20

What is the most common type of hallucination?

Answer 20

Auditory

Question 21

What type of hallucination is a cause for concern?

Answer 21

Command hallucinations

- the false perception of commands or orders that an individual feels obligated to obey

Question 22

Define illusions

Answer 22

The misperception or misrepresentation of real sensory stimuli

Question 23

Define thought content

Answer 23

The subject matter occupying a person’s thoughts

Question 24

Define thought process

Answer 24

The manner in which thoughts are formed and expressed

Question 25

Define delusion

Answer 25

A false, fixed belief, based on an incorrect inference about reality - not shared by others - inconsistent with the individual's intelligence or cultural background - cannot be corrected by reasoning

Question 26

Define paranoid delusion

Answer 26

An irrational distrust of others and/or the belief that others are harassing, cheating, threatening, or intend one harm

Question 27

What are the 4 spheres that memory is divided into?

Answer 27

1. Immediate retention and recall 2. Recent memory 3. Short-term memory 4. Remote (long-term) memory

Question 28

Define insight

Answer 28

Understanding the reality of a set of circumstances

Question 29

Define judgement

Answer 29

Ability to reach a logical decision about a situation and to choose a course of action after examining and analyzing various possibilities

Question 30

What are the 5 main categories of the Mental Status Examination?

Answer 30

1. General Appearance 2. Emotional State 3. Sensory Experience 4. Thinking 5. Sensorium and Cognitive Processes

Question 31

What are the 5 types of hallucinations?

Answer 31

1. Auditory (Hear) 2. Olfactory (Smell) 3. Tactile (Touch) 4. Taste 5. Visual (See)

Question 32

What is the term used for "a rapid, verbal skipping from one idea to the next"? (includes fragmented ideas, maybe punning and rhyming) (there may be a shred of connection to the ideas)

Answer 32

Flight of Ideas

Question 33

What is the term used for "thinking that is over-generalized, diffuse, and vague with little connection between one thought and the next"

Answer 33

Loose Associations | - seems illogical, nonsensical, or bizarre

Question 34

Explain the term "Circumstantiality" in terms of the MSE

Answer 34

When a person's thought and speech are associated with excessive and irrelevant detail - before they eventually answer a question or return to the point they began to make

Question 35

Explain the term "Tangentiality" in terms of the MSE

Answer 35

Similar to "Circumstantiality" - but the person NEVER returns to the central point or answers the original question - thought and speech are associated with excessive and irrelevant detail

Question 36

What is the term that is used to describe "when thoughts and verbal communication conveys little information b/c of vagueness, empty repititions, and 1 or 2 word answers"

Answer 36

Poverty of Thought | - as though thte person has very few thoughts to express

Question 37

What is "Thought Blocking"?

Answer 37

A sudden obstruction or interruption in the train of thought or speech, which the person is unable to complete - NOT a refusal to speak

Question 38

What is "Confabulation"?

Answer 38

Fabrication of stories in response to questions about situations or events that are not recalled

Question 39

What is "Perseveration"?

Answer 39

Repetition of sounds, words, or phrases despite attempts to create a new response - NOT the same as stuttering

Question 40

What is Paranoia?

Answer 40

Sense of extreme suspiciousness, guardedness, and mistrust of others

Question 41

What is a religious delusion?

Answer 41

Belief that one is singled out by a higher being or is an agent of that being

Question 42

What is a somatic delusion?

Answer 42

Belief that one's body is changing or responding in a bizarre or unusual way

Question 43

What is a grandiose delusion?

Answer 43

Belief that one possesses great importance or special powers

Question 44

What is a persecutory delusion?

Answer 44

Characterized by elaborate belief system that others are "conspiring against them", "out to get them", spying on them or poisoning them

Question 45

What is thought broadcasting?

Answer 45

Belief about one's thoughts being aired to the outside world

Question 46

What is thought insertion?

Answer 46

Belief that thoughts are being placed into one's mind by outside people or influences

Question 47

What is thought withdrawal?

Answer 47

Belief that one's thoughts are being removed or taken away by someone else

Question 48

What is the term used when describing "actions or statements of other people, as having direct reference to him/her when, in fact, they do not"?

Answer 48

Ideas of Reference | - it is the client's interpretation of external events

Question 49

What is the term used when describing "conviction that one's behaviour, including one's thoughts, are being influenced in some way by an external agency, such as the BCTV, RCMP, etc. when, in fact, they do not"?

Answer 49

Ideas of Influence

Question 50

Explain the term "Obsession" in terms of the MSE

Answer 50

An idea, emotion, or impulse that repetitively and insistently forces itself into a person's consciousness - it is unwelcome

Question 51

Explain the term "Compulsion" in terms of the MSE

Answer 51

The enactment or performance of the obsessional thought | - associated with obsessions

Question 52

True or False: | Obsessions are associated with Compulsions

Answer 52

True

Question 53

Define "Phobia" in terms of the MSE

Answer 53

Morbid fear associated with extreme anxiety

Question 54

What is passive suicidal ideation?

Answer 54

A wish for one's own death | - not accompanied by a plan for killing oneself

Question 55

What is active suicidal ideation?

Answer 55

Thoughts of suicide that include a plan for killing oneself

Question 56

What is homicidal ideation?

Answer 56

Thoughts of violence or harming others

Question 57

What does a person's orientation refer to?

Answer 57

Client's awareness of time, place, and person