Cross Examining Psych Doctors - Tip #35-Measurements During a Mental Status Examination

A Mental Status Examination produces a set of observations of the patient that are made by the doctor, during their face-to-face meeting, using a relatively standard set of examining techniques and questions that yield easily reported upon objective data. Those doctor-made observations are called “signs,” and should not be confused with the patient-made complaints, since they are often different.  The nature of the techniques used by doctors is most easily understood in talking about the patient’s memory, concentration, insight and judgment.  These processes are easily measured during the course of a Mental Status Examination with such techniques as asking the patient to recall a series of numbers, asking them to count backward by 7’s or asking them to provide interpretations of proverbs or to describe in what way an elephant is similar to a whale.  For instance, if the doctor diagnoses some form of depression, individuals who are clinically depressed will often have signs, or observable behaviors, of dysfunctions in these areas.

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