The Mental Status Exam will be very valuable because there are useful items to determine whether a client is presenting depression, psychotic break, mania or anything in between. It is focused in the present tense and it also focuses on appearance, mood, cognitive functioning, presentation (i.e. eye contact, affect, cognitive perceptions), and other things that are crucial in determining a person's suicidal/homicidal risk, and severity of impairment. The delivery of this would it be difficult in that it could seem mechanical or rehearsed if the counselor is not comfortable using the mental status exam. It could seem awkward and not flow too well when the counselor doesn't think about ways of making it more of a conversation then memorized
Mental illness plagues one out of four American citizens. Mental illness varies greatly from person to person. The spectrum of mental illness includes many illnesses including, depression and anxiety as well as some more serious illnesses such as Down syndrome. All mental illness plays a role in how this person is going to function in society. These individuals have unique needs and individual strengths that need evaluated for proper care.
I have not worked with clients in a formal counseling setting. However, I know the importance of clients taking assessments to gain a better understanding. For example, if the client is having difficulty selecting a career, I would have the client take a career assessment to determine client strengths. Then, the client can use the evaluation to research jobs that would allow the client to use their strengths.
First of all, through this assignment, I have learned that a theory is an interrelated set of concepts and propositions, organized into deductive systems that explain relationships among different aspects. It is an overall explanation of the person in environment configuration, and helps explain why a problem is occurring. It will also provide a social worker with a set of ideas that will help the social worker get a better understanding of the problem. In addition, there are many different theories, and perspectives that are used in the social work field to empower people and to promote a positive society for all. This particular case is associated with bio-psychosocial approach
...ng experts to identify mental health symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and identifying if any instances of malingering are present. Evaluating a defendant is essential in understanding whether or not they are capable of following legal proceedings. If an individual is in fact found incompetent, attempts to restore competency are performed through treatments with medication or mental training about legal information that is vital for them to know in their case. It is imperative to acknowledge competency to stand trial cases in the legal system to not only ensure fairness in the courtroom, but offer mentally ill defendants an opportunity to have a lawful trial depending on their psychological state.
Included in the treatment of psychiatric patients, differing levels of observation have also been used. These levels of observation include: “routine or general observation, 30- to 15-min checks, and constant or continuous observation” (Manna, 2009, p. 268). While a mental health professional such as a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Psychiatrist, or Advance...
The Mental capacity Act 2005 is a very important piece of legislation, because it makes a real difference to the lives of people who may lack mental capacity. The act will empower patients to make their own decision; it will also protect people with lack capacity by providing them with a flexible framework that places individuals at the very heart of the decision-making process.it will make sure that the patients with lack of capacity participate as much as possible in any decisions made on their behalf, and that these are made in their best interests. It also allows people to plan ahead for a time in the future when they might lack the capacity, for any number of reasons, to make decisions for themselves. The Act covers a wide range of decisions and circumstances; the act is supported by the practical guidance, and the Code of Practice which provides information about how the act works in practice. (http://www.direct.gov.uk 2007)
Mental health can described as being the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment; this refers to our mental and emotional well-being. Once hearing that someone is mentally unhealthy, or has a mental illness, usually their first reaction is one of concern, fear, or confusion.
Quite on the contrary, it is a fact that mental health is extremely important and can affect your physical health as well. In the words of the ProQuest staff, in an article about mental health, “It is how an individual handles stress and copes with life”. Depression is a mental illness that can cause physical health issues such as insomnia, exhaustion, and a loss of appetite (ProQuest Staff). Therefore, being mentally ill can be seen in a physical manner at
My experience in mental health clinical was very different from any other clinical I had before. In a mental health clinical setting, I am not only treating client’s mental illnesses, I am also treating their medical problems such as COPD, diabetes, chronic renal failure, etc. Therefore, it is important to prepare for the unexpected events. In this mental health clinical, I learned that the importance of checking on my clients and making sure that they are doing fine by performing a quick head-to toes assessment at the beginning of my shift. I had also learned that client’s mental health illness had a huge impact on their current medical illness.
Simpson, C. (2007) ‘Mental Health part3: Assessment and Treatment of Depression’ British Journal of Healthcare assistants. pp 167-171.
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.
Mental Status Examination (MSE). MSE is usually not applied to all clients; however, when necessary it could be an useful format to understand the level of client’s psychopathology increase. While applying MSE, a mental health specialist should be mindful of the client’s cultural background, because it is highly associated with cultural differences.
People sometimes have symptoms of mental disorders, but they usually do not meet the criteria or are not clinically significant, severe enough to necessitate treatment. Before a person can be diagnosed with a mental disorder, his or her problematic thoughts, feelings, and actions must meet the criteria for the mental disorder and must prevent adequate social, occupation, or other forms of functioning.
Mental illness is the condition that significantly impede with an individual’s emotional, cognitive or social abilities (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). According to (Savy and Sawyer, 2009) neurological, metabolic, genetic and psychological causes are contributing factors for various types of mental illness like depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse and progression of condition. An elaborate system known as DSM-IV-TR gives a classification system that acts to separate mental illness into diagnostic categories based on the description of symptoms of illness (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). The exact primarily causes of mental illness are complicated, however, it seems to occur in a psychologically and biologically prone individual, in the trigger of environmental and social stress (Elder, Evans and Nizette, 2007).
I asked what the date was and where he was at. He wasn't able to tell me the date or the name of the facility he was at. But he knew the day of the week and what town, county, and state he was in. He was asked to remember three words and later repeat them back to me, but wasn't able to do so. His language skills were well, he was able to name a few items for me, repeat sentences, and follow directions. His highest education level was either 5th or 6th grade, which he couldn't remember. So it seemed to me as if his skills matched up to the level of education he said he had. According to his charts, the resident's diagnosis was atrial fibrillation, chronic renal insufficiency, myocardial infarction, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and angina. I didn't see anything dealing with his mental status. He told me that the reason he was at the facility was because at home he was starting to become forgetful and didn't have anyone that could help him with his daily needs. But after talking to him, I truly seen how he would forget things so