PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH UPDATED EXAMS
SCRIPT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔What are the 5 characteristics of a mental health disorder? - ✔✔1. Impairment of
brain functioning caused by neurotransmitter dysfunction, abnormal brain structure,
genetic factors or injury
2. There is evidence showing that severe psychological trauma causes physical brain
injury
3. Dysfunction in cognition, emotion regulation or behavior
4. It is usually associated with distress or disability in important activities, relationships
or occupations
5. The inability to cope with life stressors, including job changes, loss of a loved one,
birth of a child, medical challenges, etc.
✔✔What does the AIMS assessment stand for? - ✔✔Abnormal Involuntary Movement
Scale
✔✔What does the AIMS assessment tool evaluate? - ✔✔Assesses the presence and
severity of abnormal extremity, facial and body movement.
Higher score = worse impairment
✔✔What does the BDI assessment stand for? - ✔✔Beck Depression Inventory
,✔✔What does the BDI assessment tool evaluate? - ✔✔Measures the presence and
severity of depression
✔✔What BDI score is associated with moderate depression? - ✔✔19-29
✔✔What does the BVC assessment tool stand for? - ✔✔Broset Violence Checklist
✔✔What does the BVC assessment tool evaluate? - ✔✔The degree or risk a patient
has of becoming violent.
Higher score = more likely they will become violent
✔✔What does the CAGE assessment tool assess for? - ✔✔Assess for drug and/or
alcohol substance use disorder
Score of 2 or greater indicates substance use disorder
✔✔What does CAGE stand for? - ✔✔Cut, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye Opener
Need to cut back, annoyed by criticism, guilty about use, eye opener in the morning
✔✔What does CIWA-AR stand for? - ✔✔Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment form
for Alcohol, Revised
✔✔What does the CIWA-AR assessment tool assess for? - ✔✔Alcohol withdrawal
symptoms
Higher score = more severe withdrawal
✔✔What does C-SSRS stand for? - ✔✔Columbia- Suicide Severity Rating Scale
✔✔What does C-SSRS evaluate? - ✔✔Reliably predicts the level of risk an individual
dying by suicide.
Higher the score, the more the patient is at risk
✔✔What does COWS stand for? - ✔✔Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scales
✔✔What scores are considered to indicate severe withdrawal on the COWS scale? -
✔✔Any score 36 + is considered severe withdrawal
Mild 5-12, Moderate 13-24, Moderately Severe 25-36, Severe 36 +
✔✔What is the Conners Rating Scale used to assess for? - ✔✔Assesses for the
presence and severity of ADHD in children and adolescents 6-18 years old
✔✔What score on the Conners Rating Score indicates a moderate severity level of
issues? - ✔✔60-70
<60 = no issues, 60-70 = moderate issues, 70 + = severe issues
,✔✔What does the HAM-A Scale stand for? - ✔✔Hamilton Anxiety Score
✔✔What does the HAM-A Scale assess? - ✔✔Assesses degree of anxiety, taking both
physical and psychological symptoms into consideration
Scores range 0-56; the higher the score, the worse the impairment
✔✔What does the HEEADSSS Scale stand for? -
✔✔Home/Education/Employment/Eating/Activities/Drugs/Suicide/Sexuality/Safety
✔✔What does the HEEADSSS Scale evaluate? - ✔✔A big picture look of an
adolescent's well-being
✔✔What does the MSE stand for? - ✔✔Mental Status Exam
✔✔What 9 areas of functioning does the MSE assess for? - ✔✔1. Appearance
2. Behavior
3. Mood
4. Affect
5. Thought process and content
6. Perception
7. Sensorium
8. Judgment
9. Insight
✔✔What does a lower score on MSE indicate? - ✔✔Worse impairment (the lower the
score, the worse the impairment)
✔✔What does the MMSE stand for? - ✔✔Mini Mental State Exam
✔✔What is the MMSE used to evaluate for? - ✔✔Used to evaluate cognition; usually to
evaluate the presence of dementia.
Tests memory recall, executive function and language
✔✔What score on the MMSE is associated with normal cognitive functioning? - ✔✔24 +
is considered to show normal cognitive functioning
Lower the score, the worse the impairment
✔✔How often should pain be reassessed for ________?
oral medication
IM medication
non-pharmacologic intervention - ✔✔oral medication = reassess within 60 minutes of
administration
IM medication = reassess within 30 minutes of administration
Non-pharmacologic intervention = reassess within 30 minutes of administration
, ✔✔What are the 11 components of the MMSE? - ✔✔1. Orientation to time (date, month,
year, day of week, season)
2. Orientation to place (current location, city, state, country)
3. Immediate recall (give 3 words to remember, ask to repeat later)
4. Attention (count backwards from 100 by 7, spell 'WORLD' backwards)
5. Delayed verbal recall (recall previous 3 words)
6. Naming (show a pencil and paperclip and ask patient to identify objects by name)
7. Repetition (ask patient to repeat a phrase "No ifs, ands, or buts")
8. 3-stage command ("take this piece of paper in your hand, fold it in half, place it on the
desk")
9. Reading (hold up a card that says "close your eyes" and ask pt. to read and follow
directions)
10. Writing (ask them to write any sentence they wish- must contain a subject & verb
and make sense)
11. Copying (have pt copy a specific design given to them- 2 plain intersecting
pentagons)
✔✔What MMSE score indicates mild cognitive impairment? - ✔✔18-23 points
24-30: no cognitive impairment, 18-23: mild cognitive impairment, 0-17: significant
cognitive impairment
✔✔What are the 12 components of the Brief MSE? - ✔✔1. General appearance (neat
or dirty; level of ADLs, grooming, odors, disheveled, overly dressed/ inappropriate for
season)
2. Mood (euthymic, bright, grandiose, suspicious, irritable, expansive, labile, cheerful,
etc.)
3. Affect (worried, fearful, flat, blunted, restricted)
4. Sleep (quality and quantity, use of any sleep aides, falling asleep and staying asleep,
number of times they wake up)
5. Speech (rate, tone, volume, impairments, monotone, slow, rapid, slurred, pressured,
etc.)
6. Perception (visual, auditory, command, olfactory, tactile hallucinations)
7. Thought process (depersonalization, derealization, flight of ideas, racing thoughts,
thought blocking, tangential, circumstantiality, poverty of thought, overabundance of
thoughts, ideas of reference, overly inclusive or irrelevant answers)
8. Thought content (delusions, paranoia, beliefs, obsessions, perseverations, SI, HI)
9. Cognition (intellectual capacity/impairment, memory, degree of focus/distractibility)
10. Alertness (impulsivity, LOC, degree of logic, degree of orientation, ability to control
and manage impulses, etc.)
11. Judgment and insight (degree to which pt. is able to predict consequences of
choices and behaviors, understand their own role, empathize with other's feelings and
reactions)
12. Reliability of the content (content congruent, consistent presentation)
SCRIPT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔What are the 5 characteristics of a mental health disorder? - ✔✔1. Impairment of
brain functioning caused by neurotransmitter dysfunction, abnormal brain structure,
genetic factors or injury
2. There is evidence showing that severe psychological trauma causes physical brain
injury
3. Dysfunction in cognition, emotion regulation or behavior
4. It is usually associated with distress or disability in important activities, relationships
or occupations
5. The inability to cope with life stressors, including job changes, loss of a loved one,
birth of a child, medical challenges, etc.
✔✔What does the AIMS assessment stand for? - ✔✔Abnormal Involuntary Movement
Scale
✔✔What does the AIMS assessment tool evaluate? - ✔✔Assesses the presence and
severity of abnormal extremity, facial and body movement.
Higher score = worse impairment
✔✔What does the BDI assessment stand for? - ✔✔Beck Depression Inventory
,✔✔What does the BDI assessment tool evaluate? - ✔✔Measures the presence and
severity of depression
✔✔What BDI score is associated with moderate depression? - ✔✔19-29
✔✔What does the BVC assessment tool stand for? - ✔✔Broset Violence Checklist
✔✔What does the BVC assessment tool evaluate? - ✔✔The degree or risk a patient
has of becoming violent.
Higher score = more likely they will become violent
✔✔What does the CAGE assessment tool assess for? - ✔✔Assess for drug and/or
alcohol substance use disorder
Score of 2 or greater indicates substance use disorder
✔✔What does CAGE stand for? - ✔✔Cut, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye Opener
Need to cut back, annoyed by criticism, guilty about use, eye opener in the morning
✔✔What does CIWA-AR stand for? - ✔✔Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment form
for Alcohol, Revised
✔✔What does the CIWA-AR assessment tool assess for? - ✔✔Alcohol withdrawal
symptoms
Higher score = more severe withdrawal
✔✔What does C-SSRS stand for? - ✔✔Columbia- Suicide Severity Rating Scale
✔✔What does C-SSRS evaluate? - ✔✔Reliably predicts the level of risk an individual
dying by suicide.
Higher the score, the more the patient is at risk
✔✔What does COWS stand for? - ✔✔Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scales
✔✔What scores are considered to indicate severe withdrawal on the COWS scale? -
✔✔Any score 36 + is considered severe withdrawal
Mild 5-12, Moderate 13-24, Moderately Severe 25-36, Severe 36 +
✔✔What is the Conners Rating Scale used to assess for? - ✔✔Assesses for the
presence and severity of ADHD in children and adolescents 6-18 years old
✔✔What score on the Conners Rating Score indicates a moderate severity level of
issues? - ✔✔60-70
<60 = no issues, 60-70 = moderate issues, 70 + = severe issues
,✔✔What does the HAM-A Scale stand for? - ✔✔Hamilton Anxiety Score
✔✔What does the HAM-A Scale assess? - ✔✔Assesses degree of anxiety, taking both
physical and psychological symptoms into consideration
Scores range 0-56; the higher the score, the worse the impairment
✔✔What does the HEEADSSS Scale stand for? -
✔✔Home/Education/Employment/Eating/Activities/Drugs/Suicide/Sexuality/Safety
✔✔What does the HEEADSSS Scale evaluate? - ✔✔A big picture look of an
adolescent's well-being
✔✔What does the MSE stand for? - ✔✔Mental Status Exam
✔✔What 9 areas of functioning does the MSE assess for? - ✔✔1. Appearance
2. Behavior
3. Mood
4. Affect
5. Thought process and content
6. Perception
7. Sensorium
8. Judgment
9. Insight
✔✔What does a lower score on MSE indicate? - ✔✔Worse impairment (the lower the
score, the worse the impairment)
✔✔What does the MMSE stand for? - ✔✔Mini Mental State Exam
✔✔What is the MMSE used to evaluate for? - ✔✔Used to evaluate cognition; usually to
evaluate the presence of dementia.
Tests memory recall, executive function and language
✔✔What score on the MMSE is associated with normal cognitive functioning? - ✔✔24 +
is considered to show normal cognitive functioning
Lower the score, the worse the impairment
✔✔How often should pain be reassessed for ________?
oral medication
IM medication
non-pharmacologic intervention - ✔✔oral medication = reassess within 60 minutes of
administration
IM medication = reassess within 30 minutes of administration
Non-pharmacologic intervention = reassess within 30 minutes of administration
, ✔✔What are the 11 components of the MMSE? - ✔✔1. Orientation to time (date, month,
year, day of week, season)
2. Orientation to place (current location, city, state, country)
3. Immediate recall (give 3 words to remember, ask to repeat later)
4. Attention (count backwards from 100 by 7, spell 'WORLD' backwards)
5. Delayed verbal recall (recall previous 3 words)
6. Naming (show a pencil and paperclip and ask patient to identify objects by name)
7. Repetition (ask patient to repeat a phrase "No ifs, ands, or buts")
8. 3-stage command ("take this piece of paper in your hand, fold it in half, place it on the
desk")
9. Reading (hold up a card that says "close your eyes" and ask pt. to read and follow
directions)
10. Writing (ask them to write any sentence they wish- must contain a subject & verb
and make sense)
11. Copying (have pt copy a specific design given to them- 2 plain intersecting
pentagons)
✔✔What MMSE score indicates mild cognitive impairment? - ✔✔18-23 points
24-30: no cognitive impairment, 18-23: mild cognitive impairment, 0-17: significant
cognitive impairment
✔✔What are the 12 components of the Brief MSE? - ✔✔1. General appearance (neat
or dirty; level of ADLs, grooming, odors, disheveled, overly dressed/ inappropriate for
season)
2. Mood (euthymic, bright, grandiose, suspicious, irritable, expansive, labile, cheerful,
etc.)
3. Affect (worried, fearful, flat, blunted, restricted)
4. Sleep (quality and quantity, use of any sleep aides, falling asleep and staying asleep,
number of times they wake up)
5. Speech (rate, tone, volume, impairments, monotone, slow, rapid, slurred, pressured,
etc.)
6. Perception (visual, auditory, command, olfactory, tactile hallucinations)
7. Thought process (depersonalization, derealization, flight of ideas, racing thoughts,
thought blocking, tangential, circumstantiality, poverty of thought, overabundance of
thoughts, ideas of reference, overly inclusive or irrelevant answers)
8. Thought content (delusions, paranoia, beliefs, obsessions, perseverations, SI, HI)
9. Cognition (intellectual capacity/impairment, memory, degree of focus/distractibility)
10. Alertness (impulsivity, LOC, degree of logic, degree of orientation, ability to control
and manage impulses, etc.)
11. Judgment and insight (degree to which pt. is able to predict consequences of
choices and behaviors, understand their own role, empathize with other's feelings and
reactions)
12. Reliability of the content (content congruent, consistent presentation)
