Psychology Test 1 Terms: Mental Status Examination

Mental Status Examination

Speech Characteristics

• Looseness of Associations: Disconnected thoughts, jumping from unrelated ideas (e.g., "bussing is kissing").
• Flight of Ideas: Rapid speech with continuous shifts in topic (e.g., references to home and escape).
• Tangential: Diversion from the main topic without returning (e.g., lengthy frustration about waiting in grocery lines).
• Circumstantial: Initially diverging from the main idea but eventually returning to it (e.g., discussing accidents before mentioning mother's age).
• Thought Blocking: Abrupt speech interruptions marked by silence.
• Incoherent Speech: Lacks logical sense or connection.
• Word Salad: Disorganized and random word sequence, lacking meaning (e.g., nonsensical phrases).
• Clanging: Word associations based on sound rather than meaning; rhyming without logical ties.
• Neologisms: Creation of new, nonsensical words.
• Echolalia: Repetition of another's words without context, similar to mimicking a TV show.

Affect

• Full Range: Normal emotional expression that adapts to conversation.
• Appropriate/Congruent: Emotions align with the contextual situation.
• Flat Affect: Absence of emotional expression.
• Labile Affect: Rapid mood swings, inappropriate emotional responses.
• Blunted Affect: Diminished emotional response and facial expression.
• Inappropriate Mood: Emotional reactions that do not fit the situation.
• Bizarre Affect: Retention of unusual facts, often irrelevant.
• Depressed Mood: Persistent sadness and lack of interest.
• Euphoric Mood: Excessive happiness and energy.

Perception

• Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions without external stimuli, categorized as:
  • Auditory
  • Visual
  • Olfactory
  • Tactile
  • Gustatory
• Illusions: Misinterpretations of actual stimuli (e.g., mistaking a shadow for a tiger).

Thoughts

• Thought Process: Can be coherent (linear) or disorganized (e.g., looseness of associations).
• Thought Content:
  • Delusions: Firmly held false beliefs inconsistent with reality:
    • Paranoid/Persecutory: Believing one is being harmed or followed.
    • Referential: Believing external references are directed personally (e.g., TV or book messages).
    • Bizarre: Outlandish beliefs (e.g., claiming organs have been replaced).
    • Grandiose: Inflated self-importance or superiority.
    • Somatic: Conversion of psychological issues into physical symptoms (e.g., believing in parasites).
    • Ideas of Reference: Misinterpreting external events as personally significant (e.g., thinking laughter is aimed at oneself).
    • Thought Withdrawal: Belief that thoughts have been stolen by an outside force.
    • Thought Insertion: Belief that external forces are implanting thoughts.
    • Thought Broadcasting: Conviction that one's thoughts are audible to others.

Sensorium/Cognition

• Evaluation includes assessing cognitive abilities like highest grade completed and knowledge-based questions (e.g., capital of France, recent presidents).
• Proverb interpretation indicates ability to think abstractly versus literally.