Psychologists,
first of all, decide how we can define psychological disorder exactly?
How can we
determine whether there is something psychologically unhealthy and
unreasonable?
How can we
decide what is normal and what is unusual and abnormal?
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| Mental health assessments to diagnose psychological disorders |
Mental
Health Assessments and Evaluations for Diagnosing Psychological Disorders
Psychological Disorders
The
psychological condition is a syndrome in which the person suffers disorders
that manifest as psychological impairment in the person's feelings, emotions,
cognitive abilities, and behaviors, which affect the patient's social,
practical, and educational life.
There are
many mental illnesses that a person may suffer, the most common of which are:
anxiety disorders, mood disorders including depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and mental disorders associated with stress or trauma.
Children may also suffer such as attention
deficit and hyperactivity.
A few years
ago, the community looked at mental illnesses in a negative way, which
sometimes led to the patient being confined to an isolated room for fear of
stigma.
However,
with the development of awareness, the community's perception of the
psychiatric patient changed, especially after the treatment of most mental
illnesses reached a high cure rate of 90 percent.
If the
disease is detected early, and if the patient has kept the doctor's
appointments properly, it has been seen that it does not affect human mentality
more.
The
psychiatric patient generally deals with his illness or his treatment due to
his negative beliefs about the psychological illness in which a segment of his
society participates.
There is no
doubt that the stigma associated with mental illness, which is due in general
to the weakness of the psychological culture has left the door open to
misconceptions about the disease requires to go to the non-psychiatrist for
treatment.
How to Diagnose a Mental Health Disorder
The
diagnosis of the mental state begins by taking the patient's main information,
such as his name, gender, age, social status, work, and place of residence.
This
information is important for the patient to know, to record his / her
information and to link his / her illness with his or her personal data.
The question
is about the condition of the patient with the whole details because if the
main problem of the patient is insomnia and insomnia is different from the
psychological condition in each case.
For example,
does the patient mean that he slept at 10 pm and slept at 12, or that he woke
up at five o’ clock in the morning and has been woken at three O’ clock in the
morning? all this information has implications.
The first
case is called initial insomnia and indicates that the patient suffers from
anxiety, the second case is called terminal insomnia, and in this case,
patients suffer from depression.
The patient
is then asked about his or her use of any narcotic substances, or if he is
diagnosed with medication, whether he is taking psychotropic drugs or not;
because most of the relapses that occur to psychiatric patients are due to the
patients' sudden discontinuation of their prescribed medication.
The question
is whether you thought of suicide or thought of killing anyone, or if you
recently said that you are hungry, how you see your activity and energy, in
addition to any change in the number of hours you sleep, whether it's an
increase or a decrease.
The
condition he suffers from in his working life is feeling comfortable with
people.
It is
necessary to ask the patient about the factors that have occurred in his life,
and may have led to the symptoms of psychological suffering, such as exposure
to shock, or addiction to a particular material, also must be asked about the
patient's social life, as a source of income.
It is also necessary to ask about the
patient's beliefs, whether or not he has experienced a similar condition, or if
a person has experienced any psychiatric illness or attempted suicide, if there
is any history of psychological illness in the family.
Because it
can give a signal to the doctor about the possible medicine to be used.
In the case of the patient, the possibility of patient response may increase.
Clinical assessment of psychological
disorders
Examine the behavior of the patient
The
appearance of the patient is assessed in terms of gender, age, appearance of
age, and evaluation of the patient's clothing.
Whether it
is suitable for the patient's age and gender, whether the patient is clean or
not, and noting any strange odor from it, such as alcohol, and attention to the
size of the focus of the eye, and attention to the presence of any bruises for
hidden places and effects of injection.
Because this
raises the possibility of the patient's use of drugs or prohibited substances,
or any signs of attempted suicide at the wrist area.
The
patient's behavior is evaluated by attention to the presence of any involuntary
movements, as well as attention to avoid the patient visual communication; when
the patient avoids visual communication with the doctor and with around him.
This
indicates that the patient is in the case of depression, and also must evaluate
the patient in general; Is it quiet or agitated, or is there any jerk in the
hands or not?
Examine the patient's speech
Does
the patient speak quickly or slowly or normally, in addition to the high or low
voice, and speaks with the degree of normal voice, and whether to speak
understandable words or not and attention to the severity of the tone spoken by
the patient.
Examine the patient's mood
The patient's mood is assessed from two viewpoints: the
doctor's point of view and the patient's point of view.
First, the patient is asked about his temperament, how he
feels, and then the patient's mood is assessed from the doctor's perspective.
Patient from case to the case be happy and laugh and then
cry after seconds.
Examine the patient's thoughts
The examination of the patient's thoughts is divided into
two parts; examining the contents of the patient's thoughts, and examining the
patient's thinking process.
The examination of the patient's thinking process is to see
how the patient uses the language to communicate the thoughts in his mind.
The patient's thoughts are meaningful ideas or revolve
around a certain idea and do not reach the meaning required, and the extent of
coherence and clarity of ideas and logic, and whether the patient expands in
the presentation of his ideas, as if it continues in a vicious circle without
reaching the desired idea, in addition, to note the volatile thoughts in the
patient.
The content of the ideas is examined so that the type of
ideas expressed by the patient can be described.
For example, delusion patients are thought to be erroneous
beliefs believed by the patient, stable, unshakable, and unacceptable in the
patient's society.
The doctor cannot change it by logic, or his thoughts may
reflect the phobia of something.
It means the patient is suffering from fear of something.
This fear is illogical, or his thoughts may reflect suicidal ideas or the
patients suffering from alien ideas.
Examine the cognitive disorders
Hallucinations, delusions, and alienation from reality or
dissipation of personality, the three main factors in cognitive disorders.
As for hallucination, it means that the patient is aware of
the existence of something without the presence of something external that
incites this perception, and hallucinations can be visual or auditory or
sensory or delusions, but delusions mean that there is an external influence.
But the patient perceives this effect as something else, and
alienation from reality or dissipation of the person means that the patient
feels like separate from his surroundings or his mind and ideas.
Examine the patient's perception
This section is divided into a group of sections which is the
examination of the patient's awareness of whether he is alert or feel dizzy or
tired, and then examine the orientation: This is done by asking the patient
about where he is now and time and the person who asks him, and the examination
of memory.
By asking the patient a question that depends on his
concentration and attention, such as asking the doctor to repeat the patient's
words or numbers, and then examine the new memory by asking about something
happened hours or days ago, and examining the distant memory by asking the
patient about something happened long ago.
The patient's ability to read, write and evaluate Hungarian
concepts is examined typically when the patient; so are examined abstract
concepts when the patient; by asking about the similarities between several
words, and the understanding of such simple.
Examine the patient's ability to guess
Check the patient's ability to judge a particular situation,
to know the patient's ability, to guess the consequences of things; by giving
the patient a case and evaluating his judgment, and usually asked about a
situation related to his condition.
Examine the patient's insight
By examining the patient's awareness and understanding of
the nature of his illness and being mentally ill and that he needs treatment.
Where the doctor tries to know the extent of the patient's
understanding and understanding of the effects of psychological illness on his
relationships with others and his life, and the extent of the patient's desire
to change, and the importance of examining the patient's insight to assess the
commitment of the patient with the treatment prescribed by the doctor.
Conclusion
The psychological conditions or mental disorders are
marked abnormality in one's thinking, feelings, and behavior that disrupts
one's ability to deal with others and meet the demands of life.
The severity and length of the symptoms vary depending on the
people, disorders, and conditions.
Everyone is susceptible to mental illness regardless of
their gender, age, culture, religion, level of income or education.
The psychological patient can be treated with appropriate
medical care to live a normal and happy life.
Psychiatric and mental health workers succeed in treating
multiple disorders.
The first major step is to undergo a comprehensive
assessment by an efficient specialist in the treatment of mental illness.
However, people who suffer from this assessment will not
benefit unless they have received appropriate treatment, for example, they
should not hesitate to talk to others about their condition.
Treatment may require trained specialists to help them
understand their illness and solve their daily problems and encourage them to
continue treatment.
Relatives or friends may play a positive role during these
consultations through support and encouragement.