Mental Status Examination (MSE)

Mental Status Examination (MSE)

A structured assessment of a patient's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning.

Magical thinking

The belief that one's thoughts, words, or actions can influence outcomes in a way that defies natural laws.

Akathisia

A state of inner restlessness characterized by an inability to stay still.

Automatism

Spontaneous verbal or motor behavior occurring without the patient's awareness.

Reality testing

The lack of ability to evaluate the external world and differentiate it from the inner world.

Catalepsy

A trancelike state with reduced voluntary motion and failure to react to stimuli.

Catatonia

A condition marked by extreme motor inactivity or hyperactivity.

Compulsion

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed in response to obsessions.

Dystonia

Abnormal fixed posturing or twisting/repetitive movements.

Delusions

Fixed false beliefs that remain unchanged despite contradictory evidence.

Motor hyperactivity

Excessive restlessness and agitation. a lot of activity.

Thought withdrawal

The belief that one's thoughts are being taken out of one's mind by an outside force.

Thought insertion

The experience of one's thoughts as someone else’s thoughts

Posturing

Assuming and holding certain postures inappropriately.

Tardive dyskinesia

A drug-induced movement disorder causing involuntary facial tics.

Grandiose

An inflated belief about one's own greatness.

Delusional guilt

Groundless feelings of remorse or guilt of delusional intensity.

Nihilistic delusion

The belief that nothing is real.

Persecutory

The false belief that others are threatening or conspiring against oneself.

Ideas of reference

Misinterpretation of insignificant events as having special significance to oneself.

Dysarthria

A mechanical dysfunction affecting speech production.

Echolalia

The meaningless repetition of another person's spoken words.

Obsession

Repeated intrusive and unwanted thoughts, images or urges.

Phobia

An irrational fear of a specific object or situation. Can be persistent, bizarre, or irrational. Compels someone to avoid feared stimulus/ intense fear, dislike, or aversion.

Mutism

The absence of verbal response.

Pressured speech

Rapid speech that cannot be interrupted.

Depersonalization

A loss of sense of identity where one's thoughts and feelings are no longer felt to be oneself.

Derealization

A change in perception where the external world feels unreal.

Hallucination

Perceptual experiences without external stimuli.

Auditory hallucination

Hearing noises or voices that are not present.

Visual hallucination

Seeing objects that do not exist.

Tactile hallucination

Feeling sensations without any external stimulus.

Gustatory hallucination

Experiencing tastes without a stimulus.

Olfactory hallucination

Smelling odors that are not present.

Hypnagogic hallucination

Hallucinations occurring before falling asleep.

Hypnopompic hallucination

Hallucinations experienced upon waking.

Inappropriate affect

Emotional expression that does not match the content of speech/thought.

Illusion

A misinterpreted perception.

Labile affect

Abrupt shifts in emotional expression of mood.

Orientation

Understanding one's situation in space and time.

Attention

The ability to focus and direct cognition.

Circumstantial

Providing excessive detail before returning to the main point.

Clang associations

Grouping words based on similar sounds rather than logical connections.

Goal-directed thought

Linear progression of thought without deviation.

Flight of ideas

Rapid shifts from one topic to another.

Loose associations

Abrupt shifts in thought with little connection.

Neologisms

The creation of new words.

Overabundance of thought

An increase in the quantity of thought.

Insight

Awareness and understanding of one's symptoms and limitations.

Racing thoughts

Rapid thinking and speech appear pressured.

Thought blocking

Sudden cessation of speech without explanation in the middle of a sentence

Word salad

A mixture of random words and phrases lacking coherence.

Abstract thinking

Thinking characterized by cognitive abstractions rather than sensory experience.

Autistic thinking

Abnormal self-absorption and communication difficulties. Short attention span and inability to treat others as people

Concrete thinking

Thinking based on immediate sensory experience rather than cognitive abstractions.

Impaired judgment

Poor decision-making that may endanger oneself. Individuals who are acutely intoxicated.

Catatonic excitement

Client engages in continual purposeless activity that is nearly impossible to interrupt

Echopraxia

involuntary repetition or imitation of another person’s actions

Negativism

opposition or resistance, either convert or covert, to outside suggestions or advice

Mannerisms

unconscious repetitive actions

Motor retardation

client moves slowly, in a constricted manner, and with minimal motor responses. Speech and thought are slowed, and often depressed.

Tic

part of the body repeatedly moves, quickly, suddenly and uncontrollably.

Tremor

unintentional, rhythmic, oscillatory movement.

Aphasia

Loss of ability to understand and produce language.

Syntactical Aphasia

Difficulty to arrange words in their correct sequence.

Jargon Aphasia

Incoherent, meaningless speech

Emotional

Very expressive

Monotonous

No variation in tone

Neologisms

Making up entirely new words with distinctive meanings.

Poverty of Speech

Excessively brief speech with few elaborations

Anhedonic

incapable of any pleasurable response, depressed

Anxious

Feeling worried or nervous, typically over an uncertain future outcomes

Blunted

significant reduction of the intensity of emotional expression

Broad

Normal range of moods

Dysphoric

In a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction

Elevated/ Euphoric

in an excited state of intense happiness

Euthymic

Normal display of emotion

Flat

Absence of emotional experience

Hyperthymic

The intense display of emotion

Incongruent

The client’s expression is of feelings opposite the ones appropriate for the context

Irritable

Easily annoyed/ angry

Overreaction

emotional response that is excessive in relation to the situation

Restricted

emotional expression that is reduced in range and intensity

Illogical

what the person is saying does not make sense

Incoherent

lacking connection; unable to think or express one’s thoughts in a clear and orderly manner.

Overvalued idea

an unreasonable and sustained belief maintained with less than delusional intensity

Perseveration

repetition of a particular response, regardless of the absence or cessation of the stimulus

Tangential

Wandering from the topic and never returning to it or providing the information requested

Ruminations

obsessional thinking involving excessive, repetitive thoughts or themes that interfere with other forms of mental activity

Ideas of inference

Refers to the ideas the person holds about what others do to them

Preoccupations

an engrossing or near-obsessive interest in a topic

Somatic

believing that one’s body function, sensation, or appearance is abnormal

Lethargy

Trouble remaining alert and wanting to drift off to sleep, but can be aroused, trouble concentrating on the interview, and unable to maintain a coherent train of thought.

Obtundation

Person of difficult to arouse and needs constant stimulation to stay awake. Person may seem to be confused

Stupor

Person is semicomatose, and it takes vigorous simulations to arouse her; she cannot arouse herself

Coma

The person cannot be aroused and does not respond to any stimulation

Serial 7’s

Suggested patient instructions; “start with 100, subtract 7 from 100, and then keep subtracting 7 from than number and continue as far as possible.

Suicidal ideation

thoughts of, or preoccupation with, suicide

Homicidal ideation

thoughts of, or preoccupation with, homicide

Impulse control

refers to the ability to control oneself, especially one’s emotion and desires