DESCRIPTORS COMMONLY USED IN A MENTAL STATUS EXAM Appearance     grooming: casual, shabby, neat dress how do they look? appear stated age? Behavior  restless, hyperactive, fidgety, calm  psychomotor agitation, psychomotor retardation Attitude  cooperative, suspicious, guarded, polite, oppositional Mood (emotion, how are you feeling?, predominant feeling state)  happy, sad, depressed, elevated, euphoric (overly excited);  irritable, dysthymic, dysphoric, labile (flips on a dime, their mood rapidly changes), euthymic (middle of excited and sad) Affect (facial expressions; how the mood is displayed)  full range, blunted, flat, tearful, constricted (oh, I’m happy, I’m sad) Speech    understandable, goal directed, articulation problems pressured tangential, circumstantial, perseverative, echolalia THOUGHTS PROCESSES Perceptual Disturbances Hallucinations (sensory experience without sensory input)  auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory (smells that are not present), gustatory (tastes that are not there) o seen when brain damage occurs o hearing us all w/ apple computers communicating Delusions (false irrational beliefs that are strongly held despite evidence to the contrary)  prosecutory, grandiose, erotomanic, somatic, ideas of reference  the belief that we all w/ apple computers are sent here to spy on him Suicidal Ideation Homicidal Ideation Orientation/Sensorium  clear sensorium, oriented X 4, cloudy sensorium  clear (can you tell me what day, time, year it is?  Give four words and repeat them back and try to remember four words in ab 5 minutes ask again  When was the last time you had a meal? Breakfast Oh what did you have? (have someone else in the room to know it’s legit)  Do you celebrate Christmas? Can you tell me fav Christmas activity?  Can you tell me the name of your Kindergarten teacher Attention & Concentration  Intact, impaired Memory  immediate recall, short-term, long-term remote  intact, impaired Estimation of Intelligence  Superior, high average, average, low average, borderline, mental retardation Insight and judgement  good, fair, limited, poor

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