CMN 548 Module 1 Verified Exam Guide
2025
Identifying data Topic
Name, age, sex, marital status, religion, education, address, phone number, occupation,
source of referral
Identifying data Questions
Be direct in obtaining identifying data. Request specific answers.
Identifying data Comments and helpful hints
If patient cannot cooperate, get information from family member or friend; if referred by
a physician, obtain medical record.
Chief complaint (CC) topic
Brief statement in patient's own words of why patient is in the hospital or is being seen
in consultation
Chief complaint (CC) questions
Why are you going to see a psychiatrist? What brought you to the hospital? What
seems to be the problem?
Chief complaint (CC) comments and helpful hints
Record answers verbatim; a bizarré complaint points to psychotic process.
History of present illness (HPI):
Development of symptoms from time of onset to present; relation of life events,
conflicts, stressors: drugs; change from previous level of functioning
History of present illness (HPI): questions
When did you first notice something happening to you? Were you upset about anything
when symptoms began? Did they begin suddenly or gradually?
History of present illness (HPI): comments and helpful hints
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Record in patient's own words as much as possible. Get history of previous
hospitalizations and treatment. Sudden onset of symptoms may indicate drug-induced
disorder.
Previous psychiatric and medical disorders:
Psychiatric disorders; psychosomatic; medical, neurologic illnesses (e.g., craniocerebral
trauma, convulsions).
Previous psychiatric and medical disorders: QUESTIONS
Did you ever lose consciousness? Have a seizure?
Previous psychiatric and medical disorders: comments and helpful hints
Ascertain extent of illness, treatment, medications, outcomes, hospitals, doctors.
Determine whether illness serves some additional purpose (secondary gain).
substance use/abuse
Substance use disorders can mimic or induce psychiatric syndromes, elevate risk of
suicide and violence, and have important impact on safe medication prescribing.
Various tools can be used to aid in gathering the substance use history. Examples
include the commonly used CAGE questionnaire which has been modified to include
other drugs (and now called CAGE-AID)
Past medical history
The interviewer is interested in obtaining an accounting of major medical disorders both
to develop a complete history and to identify illness that could mimic a psychiatric
disorder, contribute to the context of the presentation or factor into treatment planning.
Family History (FH): topic
Psychiatric, medical, and genetic illness in mother, father, siblings; age of parents and
occupations; if deceased, date and cause; feelings about each family member, finances
.
Because many psychiatric illnesses have a genetic predisposition, if not cause, a
careful review of family history is important to the assessment and can aid in diagnosis
and establishing expected prognosis .
Family History (FH): question
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Have any members in your family been depressed? Alcoholic? In a mental hospital? In
jail? Describe your living conditions. Did you have your own room?
Family History (FH): comments and helpful hints
Genetic loading in anxiety, depression, schizophrenia. Get medication history of family
(medications effective in family members for similar disorders may be effective in
patient).
developmental and social history
The developmental and social history reviews the stages of the patient's life from
gestation to the present with an eye toward understanding the important exposures,
relationships, and events that shaped the person's life story.
It is often helpful to review the social history chronologically; doing so provides a natural
flow to the questions and ensures a complete history.
Review of systems
As in a general medical interview, the review of systems is intended to capture any
current physical signs and symptoms not already identified in the HPI or past medical
history (including Table 7.1-2 and is organized by asking sentinel questions about the
major systems of the body).
review of systems: sleep
Sleep phase problems (initial, middle, terminal insomnia), total sleep time, abnormal
sleep events
review of systems: mood depression
Depression: persistent sadness, reduced interest or pleasure in usual activities,
tearfulness, reduced or excessive sleep, reduced or increased appetite, weight loss or
gain, low energy, reduced concentration, low libido, excessive or inappropriate guilt,
psychomotor change (slowing or agitation), negative self-appraisal, helpless and
hopeless thinking thoughts of death or suicide. A common mnemonic used to remember
the symptoms of major depression is SIGECAPS (Sleep, Interest, Guilt, Energy,
Concentration, Appetite, Psychomotor agitation or slowing, Suicidality).
review of systems: mood Hypomania/mania
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Hypomania/Mania: elevated, expansive or irritable mood, decreased need for or inability
to sleep, excessive energy, marked increase in goal and pleasure directed activity,
increase amount and pace of speech and thought, grandiosity, heightened libido,
impulsivity and/or recklessness in behaviors such as spending and sex
review of systems: anxiety
Anxiety
Experience of panic attacks, somatic symptoms of anxiety, phobic, or social avoidance
review of systems: psychosis
Experience of hallucinations, delusions, disorganized behavior, speech or thought,
negative symptoms
review of systems: obsessive-compulsive
Repetitive intrusive and unwanted thoughts, compulsive behaviors to neutralize anxiety,
hoarding behaviors
review of systems: trauma
Traumatic exposure; intrusive and avoidance symptoms, negative alterations in
cognitions and mood, excessive arousal and reactivity
review of systems: behavior
Substance use, gambling, impulse control problems, disordered eating, repetitive self-
harm
mental status exam
The MSE is the functional equivalent of the physical examination in other areas of
medicine.
It is a systematic collection of the observations (e.g., signs such as blunt affect or rapid
speech) and reported mental experiences (e.g., symptoms such as depressed mood or
hallucinations) that produce a picture of the patient's current mental state. The
interviewer makes these observations throughout an encounter and ultimately
documents the findings together in the MSE section of the evaluation document.
physical exam
Psychiatrists do not usually personally conduct comprehensive physical examinations
but may conduct focused examinations such as neurological or thyroid examinations. In
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