A Guide To Assessing Mental Health From Start To Finish
Mental Health Nursing - Assessing Mental Health
Mental health assessments often include a physical exam to rule out physical conditions. This can include blood tests, urine testing, or even brain scans.
Psychologists employ a variety of tools to assess mental health. These tools can vary from pencil and paper test forms, to in-depth interviews or self-completed questionnaires via mail.
Affect and mood
The affect and mood are the most crucial components of the mental health exam (MSE) and are the first to be observed by the clinician. They describe the patient's general mood that can range from joy to sadness, or even irritability to anger. The affect can be assessed through facial expressions, overall demeanor and the reaction to internal or external stimuli. You can express your feelings by laughing at an absurd joke, or crying when you lose a beloved one.
Affect is a temporary emotion while mood is a more sustained emotional state. It is generally described as euthymic, or dysphoric, or normal (meaning depression). Psychologists should be cautious to avoid confusion between the two terms because they are defined differently and can be affected by many factors.
While the MSE is a valuable diagnostic tool however, it isn't always easy to interpret based on a subjective patient reports. Inquiring about the feelings of patients over the past few weeks is more helpful than relying on just the observations of a doctor. A recent study found that a large proportion of symptoms, including those that are grouped within the same disorder category, differ between assessment tools. This could be due the differing emphasis on emotional, cognitive or physical symptoms as along with differences in the duration and frequency of reporting symptoms.
get a mental health assessment is possible that the MSE relies on self-reporting, which can be biased. A patient who has a headache and anxiety is likely to get an lower score than those who report only a migraine. Additionally, there is the tendency for patients to minimize negative feelings and overestimate the severity of positive emotions.
The affect and mood of a person directly affect thoughts and can affect the way we make decisions, our interpersonal behavior and physical performance. They are affected by stress, fatigue, social interactions, global events, hormones and weather. In reality positive moods have been shown to enhance creativity and thinking power. A negative mood can lead to confusion and reduce concentration. A thorough and thoughtful mental health evaluation must be able to consider both the patient's mood and affect, as well as fundamental factors.
Thought content
One of the most important aspects of a mental health exam is assessing how a patient thinks. Particularly, it is assessing thought process and thought content. The thought process is the logic, coherence and organization of a patient's thoughts. Normal thought processes are logical and focused on goals. In several mental health conditions however, thought processing is distorted. Examples include hallucinations, delusions and loose associations.
Insight and judgement are evaluated during a mental status test. Insight is being able to spot a problem. Judgement is the process to make a rational decision after receiving information. Both can be impaired by a variety of mental health issues like depression and schizophrenia. Patients with impaired insight or judgment is more likely to harm themselves or others. If they are in danger, their rational judgement would suggest leaving the home immediately. However, someone with impaired judgment may recommend staying in the house and trying to put the fire out.
The content of a patient's thoughts includes the subject matter, themes, and beliefs. Examiners generally comment on the clarity, connection and the content of a patient's thoughts. They will take note of any thoughts that are circumstantial or tangential and also whether the patient is having flashes of ideas (digressions from the subject of conversation). They will also make comments on the speed of someone's thoughts, for instance, whether they seem fast or slow.
It is also essential to determine if the patient's mood is similar to their environment. For instance, a patient who is depressed might hear voices that sound angry and threatening, while someone suffering from schizophrenia could be able to imagine a calm and soothing voice. Ask the patient if they have any thoughts of suicide or homicide. Although they are uncommon but they could be life-threatening and must be considered during every mental health assessment.
Observation
A nurse's observation skills are crucial in an assessment of mental health. They are a thorough examination of behavior, appearance, any peculiar beliefs or perceptions (such hallucinations or delusions), mood, and cognition (including attention, memory, orientation). The nursing mental state exam is also a way of the observation of the movement. This is any physical activity, such as eating, drinking and brushing teeth.
The observation component of the mental health examination is a crucial aspect of determining if the patient is posing an imminent risk to themselves or others. This is done by assessing whether the patient appears to be moving deliberately in a way that suggests that they are in danger of harming themself or someone else.
Additionally, a thorough assessment of the content of thoughts is conducted by observing the patient throughout the interview and identifying their main concerns. It is essential to determine whether the patient is suffering from suicidal, homicidal, or delusional thoughts.
A global assessment of functioning (GAF) is an assessment of a numerical score on a scale ranging from zero to 100 that evaluates the capacity of a person to function in everyday life with their ability to cope with the stressors in their life. The GAF is an essential part of the mental health examination and helps guide the treatment decisions.
It is important to recognize that observing the behaviour of a patient could cause anxiety. It is therefore important that the process be conducted in a way that does not cause discomfort or cause discomfort. It is also vital that the patient is fully aware of the reason for the observation and the amount of time it will take.
Nursing observation is an essential ability and should be a key element of the nursing process. However, it should be kept in mind that patients could not agree with the degree of observation and if they are unable to come to an agreement with the staff, they should have access to an advocate service that will represent their interests and assist them in any discussions regarding their care. This should be an integral element of the local observation policy and practice, with the involvement of user groups, to ensure that patients are a part in the creation of written information as well as staff training for this aspect of governance in the clinic.
Questioning
Many people have a difficult to discuss their mental health issues however, family members will often be able to recognize the signs of something being wrong. They can also urge the person to take a look at an assessment. These assessments are broad and cover a variety of subjects, including mood, appearance and memory, thinking process and many more. In addition to these tests, a mental health professional will also ask the person questions regarding their personal life, such as what's been happening recently and what their feelings have been like.
The assessment also includes a cognitive assessment that is focused on the person's ability to think clearly and retain information. The person may be asked to complete a few basic tasks, such as keeping their attention on a list of objects or words and recollecting lists of basic information or solving math problems. The test can be used to test the person's judgment and ability to make good choices. The test determines a person's perception, which is their knowledge of their illness and how it affects them.
Another vital aspect of a mental health assessment is the patient's attitude towards the world, himself and his illness. The patient's voice, facial expressions and body language can indicate anger, hostility depression or a feeling of helplessness. It is important to check whether the patient appears to be asking for help or accepting their condition.
In more serious instances, a mental health assessment might include an examination of the patient's mental state, which could involve hallucinations (false sensory perceptions without real stimuli) or illusions (misperceptions of real stimuli). It is important to note the presence of these conditions as they can be extremely risky and even life-threatening.
A mental health assessment must be holistic and focus on the person's interactions with their social world. A health professional may use art, music or photos or any other electronic assessment tool to better understand the individual. They should also speak to the person about the issues that caused them to seek help and assure them that there is nothing wrong with visiting a mental health professional.