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1 Define the term mental health.

Mental health is the capacity to feel, think, express emotions, and behave in ways
that enhance personal capacity to manage challenges, adapt successfully to a range
of demands, and enjoy life.
2 list four situations in which it would be necessary to perform a full mental
health assessment.
Family members are concerned about a person's behavioural changes, such
as memory loss or inappropriate social interaction
Brain lesions (trauma, tumour, stroke) document any emotional, cognitive, or
behavioural change associated with the lesion. not recognizing these changes
hinders care planning and creates problem with social adjustment
Aphasia documents language function as well as any associated emotional
problems such as depression or agitation
Symptoms of extreme worrying, avoidance of psychiatric mental illness,
especially with acute onset are evident
3 explain four factors that could affect a patients response to the mental
status examination but have nothing to do with mental disorders.
Any known illness or health problems such as alcoholism or chronic renal
disease
Current medications, the adverse effects of which may cause confusion or
depression
The usual education and behavioral level; note that factor as the normal
baseline and do not expect performance on the mental health assessment to
exceed it
Responses to person history questions , indicating current stress, social
interaction patterns, sleep habits, and drug and alcohol abuse.
4 distinguish dysphonia from dysarthria.
Dysphonia: is abnormal volume and pitch, patient may monopolize the interview or
may remain silent, secretive, or non communicative
Dysarthria: is distorted speech. Misuse of words: omitting letters, syllables or
words, and transposing words occur with aphasia
5 describe the global assessment of functioning test.
It is used to estimate overall psychological, social, and occupational functioning
within any limitations imposed by patient physical and environmental factors.
These findings are scored from low functioning (0-10) to high functioning (91-100)
6 identify convenient ways to assess a persons recent memory within the
context of the initial health history, and list two possible causes of recent
memory deficits.
Assess recent memory in the context of the interview by the 24-hour diet recall or
by what time the patient arrived at the agency. Ask verifiable questions to screen for
the occasional person who makes up answers to fill in gaps of memory loss

7 which mental function is the Four Unrelated World Teat intended to test?
This tests the patient's ability to acquire new memories. It is highly sensitive and
valid memory test that avoids the danger of unverifiable material

8 list at least three questions you could ask a patient that would screen for
suicidal ideation.
Have you ever felt so sad you thought of hurting yourself?
Do you feel like hurting yourself now?
Do you have a plan to hurt yourself?
What would happen if you were dead?
How would other people react if you were dead?
9 describe the patient response level of consciousness that would be graded
as:
lethargic somnolent: not fully alert, drifts off to sleep when not stimulated, can be
aroused to name when called in normal voice but looks drowsy, responds
appropriately to questions, spontaneous movements are decreased
obtunded: transitional state between lethargy and stupor, sleeps most of the time,
difficult to arouse: needs to should or vigorous shake, acts confused when is
aroused, converses in monosyllables, speech may be mumbled and incoherent,
requires constant stimulation for even marginal cooperation
stupor or semi-coma: sponteously unconscious, responds only to persistent and
vigours shake or pain; has appropriate motor response (withdrawals hand to avoid
pain) otherside can only groan, mumble, or move restlessly; reflex activity persists
come: completely unconscious, no response to pain or to any external or internal
stimuli (ex when suctioned does not try to push catheter away) in light of coma has
some reflex but purposeful movement; in deep coma, has no motor response
acute confusional state(delirium): clouding of consciousness (dull cognition,
impaired alertness); inattentive, incoherent conversation, impaired recent memory
and confusable for recent events, often agitated and having visual hallucination,
disorientated, with confusion worse at night when environmental stimuli are
decreased

10 differentiate between delirium and dementia.


Dementia: a gradual progressive process, causing decreased cognitive function even
though the person is fully conscious or awake; is not reversible.

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