Video
Discussion
General Appearance and Behavior:
T is a 22 years old Chinese-Malaysian girl of average weight and height. At the time of examination, she was a little makeup with lipstick and dressed neatly and casually. On appearance, were no signs of tremor or abnormal behaviours. T was cooperative and passive through the interview. She maintained normal eye contact with the interviewer most of the time.
Motor and sitting position:
In the conversation, T seated quietly with her knees to the side and put her hand on the chair to support her. Moreover, she had repetitive movement with her left hand, rubbing her thumb and index finger. Sometimes, she would comb her hair with her hand and look at the upside and think for a second to answer the questions.
Speech:
T answered the questions clearly and spontaneously, with a moderate speed. She spoke in moderate tone throughout the conversation, but when it comes to some questions about past history of her family and personal health issues, she seemed not confidence with the answers by silence for a second or answered: “ I think no…”.
Affect and mood:
Throughout the conversation, T behaved naturally. She answered “I feel great, I feel Ok” with a smile when being asked about her emotion or mood on that day. T showed a neutral and euthymic affection through the conversation which is congruence with reported mood. When talked about how she managed her conflict with her future partner and about “posting” in West Malaysia, she showed appropriate serious facial expression and tone.
Speech and Language:
T had impoverished speech as she was being interviewed in a language other than her native language. She would mix her language with Bahasa Melayu and stopped or silenced for a second finding a word to explain her thought
Thought process:
T had linear thought and speak little for some questions like she answered “No” directly and confidently when being asked whether have trouble in school time.
Moreover, she abled to think logically through a conversation, be goal-directed and made a rational decision especially when being asked how if she is not posted in Kuching and she really love Kuching ( She is a trained teacher, who study in Ipoh), she showed her understanding about her situation as she already made an agreement before her study; and if she has a partner from West Malaysia, she said she would try to discuss with him and find an alternative way (like go back to Kuching during holiday).
However, there is a part she had conflict of idea, when she was being asked whether she followed her mother’s footsteps, becoming a teacher, She immediately answered: “No, erm…just…”, but then silenced for a second, changed to “I think yes la…” with an unconfident and avoidance tone. Later, when she was being asked why she studies as a trained teacher after Form 6 but not after Form 5, she answered: “ Erm…don't know how to say…erm ( with an awkward smile)… how to say a…because my STPM result is not that good…oh no-no… just…oh because I want to be like my mother. She is a teacher. She gives me a lot of inspiration to become a teacher, and I think that STPM is too hard for me… So I decided to go for IPG.”
There is a transition of mind and mood in T. In beginning of conversation, she tried to avoid her real thought and reason she chose to become a teacher, but in later conversation, she slowly spoke out the fact that she didn’t do well in her past and finally decide to listen to her mother to become a teacher like her.
Thought Content: T has future oriented thought, this could be seen when being asked after finishing her study, what would she do and how if she is posted to teach in West Malaysia and in future where would she likes to stay. She could provide a roughly clear mind set about her future and understand the situation do not allow her to stay in Kuching.
Perception: T exhibits normal perceptions. Symptoms such as illusions, hallucination are not present.
Cognition:
T was alert and oriented to time and place. She was able to answer questions and recall her past event like Where do you study for primary, secondary education. She could answer it clearly and immediately. No problem with her long-term memory.
Insight and judgement:
When questioned about how she managed her stress, she answered: “Through listen to the music”. Moreover, when questioned about whether had a financial problem, she answered: “Ya, of course. Erm, I think this is the things that every adult will worry about because I am not working right now, as a student and allowance just only RM400 and I don’t want to spend my parent’s money, so I keep worried about my expenses”. Then what action would she take to overcome it, she answered: “Sometime, I would take a part-time job as a promoter”. This shows that she had awareness about her situation as a student in her spending and take necessary action to reduce her parents’ burden.
Reference
Monash Edu. (n.d.). Mental state examination. Retrieved from https://www.monash.edu/rlo/assignment-samples/medicine-nursing-and-health-sciences/writing-in-psychological-medicine/mental-state-examination
The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Mental_state_examination/
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