These set of video lectures are a useful review for the  USMLE psychiatry test.  They explore the basics of a mental status examination when interviewing  psychiatric patients.

Lecture outline:

• Mental status exam:
• General description
• Appearance, attitude rapport.
• Behaviour /Activity
• Akathesia: inability to sit still, restlessness (side effects of neuroleptic drugs)
• Speech
• Differences between:hallucination and illusion.
• Types of hallucinations: auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory.
• Content of thought
• Minimental status exam: alertness, level of consciousness, orientation to time, person, place.
• Features of dementia.
• Concentration and attention.
• Sensorium and cognition.