Psychiatric Assessment and Diagnosis Flashcards

A child shows persistent deficits in social communication plus restricted, repetitive behaviors present from early development. This pattern is characteristic of:

Answer: Autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder combines social-communication deficits with restricted, repetitive behaviors from an early age.

A patient states they have no problem despite obvious functional impairment from their illness. The clinician documents this as:

Answer: Poor insight

Lack of awareness of one's own illness or its consequences reflects poor insight.

Which of the following best defines a hallucination?

Answer: A perception without an external stimulus

A hallucination is a sensory perception occurring in the absence of an external stimulus.

The DSM-5 uses a categorical approach, but which section introduced dimensional assessment tools for further study?

Answer: Section III

DSM-5 Section III contains emerging measures, dimensional models, and conditions for further study.

A patient with anorexia nervosa is being assessed. Which feature is a required diagnostic criterion?

Answer: Significantly low body weight relative to expectations

Anorexia nervosa requires restriction leading to a significantly low body weight along with fear of weight gain and body image disturbance.

During assessment, a patient invents new words that have meaning only to them. This is termed:

Answer: Neologism

A neologism is a newly coined word or phrase with idiosyncratic meaning, often seen in psychosis.

Which element is NOT typically a component of the standard Mental Status Examination?

Answer: Complete blood count

A complete blood count is a laboratory test, not part of the observational MSE.