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Mental Health Assessments A mental health assessment is a vital instrument for helping people understand their mental well-being. There are a variety of instruments, from standard to self-reports, that are used by professionals for this purpose. A mental status test is among the most commonly used. It permits doctors and counselors to observe a client’s appearance, attitude, and activities. They can also track their mood thoughts, emotions, and mood. Signs and symptoms People who suffer from mental health problems often have changes in their emotions, thinking and behavior. These can affect their ability to work and interact with others. Mental illness is a serious health problem. Many of the same ailments that can affect physical health can also affect mental health. Everyone experiences mood swings. However, if the changes are extreme and persist for a long period, it may be an indication of a mental illness. Some common symptoms include a change in sleeping, eating habits or energy levels, a drastic increase or decrease in feelings such as sadness, anger or joy, a difficulty in recalling or concentrating, and feeling exhausted constantly. If you have concerns about someone close to you it is important not to ignore them. Making contact with a helpline, or contacting an experienced health professional in the early stages can stop mental health problems becoming worse. These changes are often caused by life events like the loss of work, family issues or a serious accident. It is essential to seek treatment for a mental illness to ensure it doesn't impact your work and relationships. Certain of these disorders can be treated with counselling or medication. Some conditions require hospital treatment. There are more than 200 classified mental disorders, like depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Some of these are very serious and could be life threatening. Certain phobias are less severe and don't affect daily life as severely. Mental health is affected in many ways, including genetics, biological differences, life experiences and stress, lifestyle choices and the way society treats its citizens. It is important to realize that mental illness shouldn't be shamed. Similar to heart disease and diabetes it can be treated and improved. Mental illness can be treated and many sufferers recover with the appropriate treatment. This can include psychotherapy (talk therapy) or medications like antidepressants and sedatives. Combining treatments is usually the most effective. Some individuals find that self-help and support groups can be beneficial as well. History A mental health history is a crucial element of any examination. A psychiatrist should also know your medical history, and whether you have relatives with mental illness. They will inquire about your current medications as well as any drug or alcohol use you have had in the past. In certain instances doctors may require you to keep a diary of your symptoms or bring an individual or a relative along to obtain the full picture from their perspective. A mental health assessment could be the first step taken by some people to get treatment for a specific issue. It is often triggered by a doctor or other professional who refers the person to the doctor, but can be initiated by the person. The psychiatric evaluation will provide the medical professional with the information required to make an accurate diagnosis. Throughout most of recorded history, Western civilization's view of mental illness was based on supernatural forces and demonic possession, leading to primitive treatment practices like drilling a hole in the head (trepanning). The 18th and 19th centuries saw the rise of a more humane approach to treating the mentally ill, as doctors began to abandon these superstitions and adopt logical explanations/theories for their patients. The term “mental health” is used in both ways: to describe a state of well-being; as an umbrella term that covers both psychiatry as well as psychotherapy. There is a growing movement to set mental health apart from psychiatry to establish it as a separate discipline but this distinction has yet to be fully established. The definition of mental health has varied depending on the culture, but the majority of systems contain elements like self-realization, a sense of accomplishment; happiness; and mastery over one's surroundings. However these criteria are influenced by the cultural values that can exclude adolescents who have not fully developed their potential, people who have low incomes, those who live in impoverished communities, and minorities who experience discrimination and rejection. Other assessment tools are utilized to help determine the health of a person's mental state and wellbeing, such as the DSM-5 checklist which contains the symptoms of specific disorders, as well as the Life Events Checklist, which can screen for potentially traumatic or stressful events in the life of a patient. Physical Examination A psychiatrist or medical doctor will typically conduct a physical examination of a person who is suspected to have a mental health issue. The exam can be part of a routine physical exam or when a doctor suspects a specific illness such as schizophrenia, dementia or addiction to drugs. The test gives the opportunity to assess the person's appearance and emotional state, and how they respond to questions. The doctor will inquire about the duration of the symptoms and if there is an ancestral history of mental illness. The doctor will want to know if the person has ever used any medications such as over-the-counter drugs and supplements. A psychiatric assessment is important to discover what is going on inside a person and what type of treatment might be beneficial. A diagnosis is important, and depending on the final diagnoses, a person may need medical or inpatient care. The diagnosis is usually done in the hospital, however some individuals undergo an assessment of mental health done at home by an authorized professional. The assessment of cognitive function is a major part of a mental assessment. This includes the capacity to concentrate, remember and organize information, solve problems, and make decisions. It also includes fundamental skills such as the ability of interacting with others. To evaluate cognition, a person is required to answer open-ended or standard questions and write short stories. The assessment of the contents of thoughts includes a variety of things, such hallucinations, which could be auditory or visual or tactile or olfactory, delusions of status, special powers or persecution by others, paranoid thoughts obsessive-compulsive behaviour, irrational fear or compulsions, as well as the looseness of associations (making irrelevant links between different subjects) and suicidal or depressive thinking. Often clinical tests are required in conjunction with an assessment of mental health like blood tests or magnetic resonance imaging to rule out other illnesses and disorders that may cause similar symptoms to mental illnesses. Tests The mental status examination explores multiple aspects of a patient's condition by direct questioning and objective observation. It involves a health care provider watching the patient's behavior, mood, level of activity and overall appearance. It may also include the use of written or verbal tests that include standardized rating systems that assess symptoms. The MMPI-2 is an example. It is a standard test used to assess depression. There are a variety of other tests that can be used to determine anxiety as well as intelligence and autism. A patient's history and physical exam can provide important information that can help determine if their symptoms are due to a mental disorder or a medical condition like diabetes, hypothyroidism or addiction to drugs. In addition, some physical ailments like selective brain lesions, or certain types of tumors present with similar symptoms as psychological disorders and might require clinical or laboratory tests such as blood tests, CT scans or MRI as an addition to a mental health assessment to establish an accurate diagnosis. www.iampsychiatry.com is a crucial component of a mental health assessment and can provide valuable information about how the patient thinks, recalls, and interacts with other people. The results of these tests can aid the health professional determine the various signs like hallucinations (the perception of an object, a person or event that is not real) or a lack of connection (the tendency to draw irrelevant connections between different subjects). A psychiatric health assessment may include questions regarding the family history of the patient's psychiatric illnesses and other ailments. It will also inquire about the length of time the symptoms have been present and the extent of their effects, and whether they affect everyday activities. It will also inquire about any previous psychiatric illness the patient has suffered from and what treatment they have received in the past. It is important for the patient to be honest in their answers as it will allow the health care professional discern the extent of the person's condition. During the interview the health care professional will also pay attention to how the patient talks and how they interact with other people. They will also ask the patient about any prescription or non-prescription drugs and supplements they take and how these affect their mental health.