Mental Status Exam

Front 1

abstract

Back 1

intangible

Front 2

abstract thinking

Back 2

includes voluntarily shifting one's mind set from a specific aspect of a situation to the general apsect

Front 3

affect

Back 3

feeling or tone expressed through voice facial expression and demeanor; emotional reaction associated with expereince

Front 4

agnosia

Back 4

inability to recognize or comprehend sights, sounds, words or other sensory information

Front 5

aphasia

Back 5

absence or impairment of the ability to communicate through speach, writing, or signs because of brain dysfunction

Front 6

aphonia

Back 6

loss of speech sounds, not caused by a brain lesion; may be functional problem from psychotic cases

Front 7

apraxia

Back 7

inability to perform purposive movements, despite intact sensory and motor funcion

Front 8

association

Back 8

the act of joining or uniting. in psych it refers to the relationship of conscious and unconscious ideas

Front 9

attention

Back 9

directing of consciousness to a person, thing, perception or thought

Front 10

blocking

Back 10

a sudden break in free association as a defense against unpleasant ideas

Front 11

circumstantiality

Back 11

speech characterized by indirection and delay in reaching the point because of unnecessary detail, although components of the description have a meaningful connection. Many people without mental disorders speak this way

Front 12

clanging

Back 12

speech in which a person chooses a word on the basis of sound rather than meaning, as in rhyming and punning speech. For example: look at my eyes and nose, wise eyes and rosy nose. Two to one the ayes have it!

Front 13

cognition

Back 13

thinking skills, including language use, calculation, perception, memory, awareness, reasoning, judgment, learning, intellect, social skills and imagination

Front 14

confabulation

Back 14

fabrication of facts or events in response to questions, to fill in the gaps in an impaired memory

Front 15

delusions

Back 15

false, fixed, personal beliefs that are not shared by other members of the person’s culture or subculture

Front 16

denial

Back 16

refusal to admit the reality or to acknowledge the presence or existence of something; keeping of anxiety-producing realities from conscious awareness

Front 17

dysarthria

Back 17

impairments or clumsiness in the uttering of words due to diseases that affect the oral, lingual, or pharyngeal muscles. The patient’s speech may be difficult to understand but there is no evidence of aphasia

Front 18

dysphasia

Back 18

impairment of speech resulting from a brain lesion or neurodevelopmental disorder. The speech impairment is less marked than the severe or global language found in aphasia

Front 19

dysphonia

Back 19

difficulty speaking, hoarseness

Front 20

dyspraxia

Back 20

a disturbance in the programming, control and execution of volition movements. It cannot be explained by absence of comprehension, inadequate attention, or lack of cooperation; usually associated with stroke, head injury or other condition affecting the cerebral hemispheres

Front 21

echolalia

Back 21

involuntary repetition of words spoken by others

Front 22

flight of ideas

Back 22

: an almost continuous flow of accelerated speech in which a person changes abruptly from topic to topic. Changes are usually based on understandable associations, plays on words, or distracting stimuli, but the ideas do not progress to sensible conversation

Front 23

gnosia

Back 23

perceptive faculty of recognizing persons, things and forms

Front 24

hallucinations

Back 24

a false perception having no relation to reality and not accounted for by any exterior stimulus; a dreamlike perception occurring while awake

Front 25

intoxication

Back 25

poisoning by a drug or toxic substance; impaired cognitive ability due to alcohol

Front 26

mood

Back 26

a more sustained emotion that may color a person's view of the world

Front 27

relationship between mood and affect

Back 27

mood is to affect as climate is to weather
so affect is what is currently going on, while mood is a longer duration of time

Front 28

mutism

Back 28

inability or unwillingness to speak

Front 29

neologism

Back 29

nonsensical word or verbal tic

Front 30

obtundation

Back 30

level of consciousness: patient opens eyes and looks at you but responds slowly and is somewhat confused. alertness and interest in the environment is decreased

Front 31

orientation

Back 31

awareness of personal identity, place and time;requres both memory and attention

Front 32

perseveration

Back 32

abnormal, compulsive, and inappropriate repetition of words, behaviors
common in schizophrenia or frontal lobe disease

Front 33

praxis

Back 33

the ability to plan and execute coordinated movement

Front 34

psychomotor retardation

Back 34

: a generalized slowing of physical and mental reactions; seen frequently in depression, intoxications, and other conditions

Front 35

psychosocial

Back 35

related to both psychological and social factors

Front 36

orientation

Back 36

awareness of personal identity, place and time;requres both memory and attention

Front 37

perseveration

Back 37

abnormal, compulsive, and inappropriate repetition of words, behaviors
common in schizophrenia or frontal lobe disease

Front 38

praxis

Back 38

the ability to plan and execute coordinated movement

Front 39

psychomotor retardation

Back 39

: a generalized slowing of physical and mental reactions; seen frequently in depression, intoxications, and other conditions

Front 40

psychosocial

Back 40

related to both psychological and social factors

Front 41

thought disorder

Back 41

a disorder of the thought process these include circumstantiality, derailment, flight of ideas, neologisms, incoherence, blocking, confabulation, perseveration, echolalia, clanging,

Front 42

Echalalia

Back 42

whatever clinician last said- the pt repeats that word as their answer

Front 43

mental status exam content

Back 43

Determines level of consciousness
Determines orientation to name, place, time, and situation
Assesses memory: 3 words to be repeated later
Assesses attention: serial sevens or threes, spelling WORLD backwards
Assesses comprehension: completing a 3-step task
Assesses ability to read and write
Assesses praxis
Determines left-right discrimination