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Describe mental status and mental health
- Mental Status- cognitive and emotional functioning
- Mental Health- how well one functions in social, personal and work situations
- - dynamic (good days and bad days)
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Describe some stressors and the repercussions they cause.
- Stressors: homelessnes, unemployment, death of a loved one
- - may cause emotional-cognitive trauma and transient dysfunction
- - Responses to traumatic events (grief reaction) are normal but may become pathologic if unable to cope effectively.
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Describe two components of the Mental Status Exam.
1) General Appearance (e.g. motor functioning such as tremors, twitching, excessive movement, ability to sit still; degree of eye contact.)
2) Consciousness (being aware of self and environment [LOC])
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What are 10 factors to look for associated with consciousness and describe each.
- 1) Alert (awake or readily aroused)
- 2) Lethargic
- - somnolent (drifts off to sleep)
- - can be aroused by name (when called in a normal voice)
- - responds appropriately, but seems low
- 3) Obtunded
- - sleeps continuously, difficult to arouse
- - arouses by shouting or vigorous shaking
- - requires constant stimulation
- - converses in monosyllables and mumbles
- 4) Stupor or semi-coma
- - unconscious
- - responds only to vigorous shaking or pain
- - withdraws from pain
- - cannot converse; may groan or mumble
- 5) Coma
- - unconscious and unresponsive to pain
- - light coma (may have reflexes)
- - deep coma (no motor response)
- 6) Delirium
- - acute confusional state, hallucinations or impaired clouded consciousness 7) Mood (subjective; how a person feels)
- - euthymic: normal
- - euphoric (exaggerated feeling of wellbeing; mild elation)
- - dysthymic (chronically depressed mood)
- 8) Affect (objective)
- - appropriate
- - flat (no change in facial expression)
- - labile (extreme swings or over reaction)
- 9) thought processes
- - delusion (false belief that appears real)
- - paranoia (persectory thinking associated with feeling of being treated wrongly)
- - confusion
- 10) Cognition
- - oriented x 3 (person, place, time) or x 4 (person, place, time, preceding events)
- - short and long term memory
- - field of knowledge (e.g. president; world events)
- - insight
- - judgement
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Define mood disorders, psychotic disorders, and ementia
mood disorders: problems with mood or affect
psychotic disorders: problems with thought processes
dementia: problems with cognition
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What are four developmental considerations for aged adults?
- 1. Mental status remains intact (no loss of general knowledge or vocabulary)
- 2. slower response
- 3. recent memory may be impaired (difficult 24 hr recall)
- 4. age related sensory perceptions can affect mental status (change in hearing, change in vision
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