A Full Psychiatric Assessment
A psychiatric evaluation is the first step towards receiving the proper treatment for your mental health. The psychiatrist will ask a number of questions about your family and work life, stress sources, traumatic events you've experienced and any alcohol or drug-related issues.
Background and History
A complete psychiatric assessment or psycheval is a multidisciplinary procedure that occurs in hospitals. It involves psychiatric nurses as well as psychologists, occupational therapy and social workers. The psychiatrist is the one who takes a detailed medical record and conducts a mental exam. The information can be gathered from direct observation or the person being evaluated as well as their carers, and also through specific psychological tests.
The doctor will ask the patient about their symptoms and what they have been doing in the last few months, weeks and years. They will also ask about your family and health. This will help the doctor to determine what is the cause of the symptoms, and if they're due to a different issue.
In this phase an psychiatric doctor will inquire about your medical background to determine if you have an ancestral history of anxiety, depression or other mental health disorders. They will also need to find out if the patient suffers from any physical issues like heart disease or diabetes, and the medications they are taking or were prescribed in the past.
In addition the psychiatrist will take note of the current symptoms and how long they've been experiencing them for. They will also inquire about the person's life, including their job and their home environment. They will also talk about previous treatments and the degree of adhering to. Most often family members and caregivers offer information that the patient has not disclosed, but this is a matter of confidentiality and does not violate their right to privacy.
Depending on the severity of the symptoms, a range of additional tests and examinations may be required. These could include laboratory tests, blood pressure readings or electroencephalography (EEG), which measures brain activity. They could also take IQ tests, which assess cognitive abilities. These can test spatial skills, concentration, memory and communication skills.
It is crucial that all psychiatric assessments are conducted by trained and skilled experts. This will ensure that the diagnosis is correct and that the person receives a treatment plan that is best suited to their needs.
Mental Status Examination
The mental status examination (MSE) can be a painful experience for the physician and patient alike. It's a "snapshot" of the patient at a specific moment in time, and is helpful in describing the patient's actions and thoughts at that time. The MSE can also be useful in showing how a patient's mental state changes over time, for example, from depression to mania.
The MSE starts with the doctor's initial observations of the patient, typically during the taking of a medical history. The way a patient interacts and behaves around the examiner can reveal an awful lot about the root cause of mental disorder. This can be the case with the sloppy appearance of a depressed person or the flamboyant style of manic patients. It could also be a sign of a lack of motivation or effort, such as in a depressed individual or agitated person on antipsychotic medication.
If a psychiatric test is undertaken it is best to do it when the patient is at ease and cooperative. It can be a challenging and uncomfortable experience for both the patient and the examiner and it is crucial to make a good impression. The MSE is a short part of the overall intake assessment and the results should be considered in conjunction with findings from other sources such as imaging studies or lab tests.
As with the physical exam as well, the MSE is not as well suited to a structured approach, and much of it is obtained by the physician's unstructured observations during history-taking. A detailed MSE will include descriptions of appearance and behavior as well as alertness and attention to speech and motor activities as well as mood and affect perception and thought, attitude and understanding. It should also contain a comprehensive assessment of higher cognitive functions such as parietal-lobe functions (pictorial construction, right-left discrimination, the localization of objects in space) and frontal lobe executive or diffuse cerebral cortical functions (judgment, abstract reasoning, memory).
It is crucial that the MSE is embedded within the context of the full intake evaluation and that physicians interpret the results with care and sensitivity. A thorough MSE can reveal a broad spectrum of abnormalities, which includes many that are specific to psychiatric disorders but it must be viewed as a single data point in the overall history of the patient and is of limited clinical value by itself.
Evaluation of Thought Content
The thought content section is the psychiatric assessment online largest of the MSE sections and should include details about delusional thoughts (thoughts that are not true) like jealous, persecutory, or grandiose thoughts and hallucinations (hearing or seeing things others don't) and preoccupations (such as anxieties, fears or fears) and suicidal thoughts. These questions should be addressed directly. The extent and intensity of the psychotic thoughts must be described, including whether they are mood congruent or incongruent (e.g. someone who is depressed hears voices that are angry or instigating them to kill themselves, versus hallucinations that are peaceful and calm).
Thought process is the coherence, logic, relevance and flow of the client's thoughts as they respond to questions from the examiner during the MSE interview. The doctor will also be able to determine if the thought process is unorganized or goal-directed, and the frequency with which it moves from one subject to the next without a clear connection. Disorganized, tangential, and circumstantial associations are thought patterns that can indicate mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, mania and bipolar disorder.
Psychologists and neuropsychologists also assess the client's attentional concentration and capacity to store information in short-term memory. This can be determined by examiner observations, self-reports or tests that are brief like counting backwards beginning at 100 and then multiplying it by sevens. They also assess the client's strategies to cope and their cognitive performance in daily life, which is evaluated through direct questions and behavioral observations.
During the MSE psychologists will be observing the client's facial expressions and body language to determine if they appear nervous or shy. They also observe the client's agitation or fidgeting to determine if they're scared or anxious. Psychologists employ the MSE along with other tests and assessments to diagnose and formulate a treatment program. Psychologists are trained to identify the severity of a client's behavior due to a mental disorder or caused by another cause like alcohol abuse, an accident or a medication side effect. This information is important in determining the appropriate treatment and follow-up.
Evaluation of Mood, Anxiety and Stress
Everyone experiences tough times, but when those difficulties begin to affect relationships, daily activities and even the ability to sleep, it may be time to schedule a psychiatric evaluation. Also known as a psych eval, this mental health exam is typically performed by a psychiatrist or doctor. The procedure can be a bit daunting and usually there's plenty of information you'll have to share. It's important to remember that your therapist is looking to gather all the information so they can make a correct diagnosis and suggest the appropriate treatment for you.
A psychiatric assessment will include physical and mental examinations of your medical history. This is to ensure that there aren't any physical problems that could be causing your symptoms like thyroid issues or neurologic disorder.
Your psychiatrist will also ask about any psychiatric or medical conditions and if you are currently taking any medication. When patients are unable to provide a account due to their mental state it is crucial that their caregivers and family members are able to answer the doctor's questions. This is not a violation of confidentiality and allows the physician to get more complete information than could be obtained in a face-to-face conversation.
During the psychiatric examination the doctor will evaluate the patient's emotional state by observing their voice tone and body language. They'll also evaluate their thoughts to determine if they are focused and related. For example, the doctor will look at how the patient is able to concentrate during the interview and whether they are able to easily switch between different ideas. This is a vital piece to the assessment as a manic or psychotic patient may not be able to think clearly and swiftly shift their focus of thought.
A psychiatric examination is often the first step in getting the care you need. It is crucial that anyone who believes they are suffering from symptoms of mental illness seeks an evaluation. Don't let fear or anxiety stop you from seeking help as it could have grave and life-threatening consequences for yourself and the people around you.