Mental Status Exam

Mental Status Exam (MSE): includes the social worker's observations and sense of the client. MSE should also include how the worker's observations change over time

MSE should include the following areas

-Appearance (dress, hygiene)
-Behavior
-Speech and Language (rate, rhythm, prosody, flow, content, first language, pressured, slurred)
-Emotions
-Mood (overall mood over time)
-Affect (how the client presents currently)
-Thought Process and Content
-Some types of thought process: circumstantial, perseveration, associations, tangential, loose associations, flight of ideas, thought blocking, confabulation)
-Sensory Perceptions (Delusions, Hallucinations)
-Mental Capabilities (is the client oriented to time, place and person?)
-Attitude
-Insight/Judgment