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Mental Health Assessment – The First Step to Diagnosing a Mental Health Problem When people seek out mental health care, they may feel overwhelmed by their feelings. They may not know how to deal with them. Fortunately, loved ones are usually able to tell when something is wrong and help the person take action. Assessment is the process through which therapists collect and analyze information to identify a client's needs. It can be informal or formal, standardized or non-standardized, self-report or therapist-administered. Mental health A mental health evaluation is a procedure where an expert examines an individual to determine if they might have problems with their mental health. Medical examinations, observations, and tests can be part of the procedure. The assessment can be lengthy and may require multiple appointments. It is essential to be honest with your health professional and to answer all questions honestly. This will enable the health professional to make an accurate diagnose. Psychologists and psychiatrists employ various methods for mental health assessments. You can be offered written or verbal assessments. These tests are known as psychological tests and can be standardized tests that identify specific problems. These tests are often used with interviews and observations in order to diagnose the person. The most commonly used tests include the MMPI-2 test, which tests for several different kinds of mental disorders, as well as the Y & Z test, that is designed to assess a person's reaction to stress and anxiety. Mental health professionals will assess the cognitive functioning of patients during an assessment. This will include a detailed description about the person's alertness and level of consciousness, their motor and speech activities as well as their moods, feelings, their thoughts and perception as well as their attitudes and understanding. They will also test their capacity to recall information and abstractly think, as well as follow the directions. If you're worried that your child may have a mental health problem, it is very important to take them to get assessed by a professional. This could be a psychologist, psychiatrist or counsellor. It is crucial to make sure the appointment is enough time for the professional to understand the issues that are affecting your child, and how they are experiencing. It is best if your child is able to be with the health professional for the entire assessment. You should explain to your child that taking an assessment isn't an act of punishment and that you are hoping the professional can find out what is going on so that it can be addressed. It may be helpful to remind them that everyone feels down and anxious every now and then, but if these feelings persist, they need to be addressed. Symptoms Mental health disorders can alter how you think and behave. It can make it difficult to cope with everyday life and relationships. Counselling and medication can help. Everyone feels sad or worried at times but it's a lot more serious if these changes impede your life and continue to occur. Talk to someone about their changes in behavior and emotions that make it difficult to function on a daily basis. If you think they're at risk of suicide or self-harming, call triple zero (0000) immediately. Depression anxiety disorders, depression and other mental illnesses affect around 264 million people around the world. These include a range of symptoms like low mood, difficulty concentrating or sleeping and changes in eating and drinking. It can be caused by a variety of factors, including brain chemicals, genes or stress. It could also be caused by traumatizing events, such as a car accident or natural disaster or war. Other reasons could be an ancestor's history of mental illness, or taking certain medications or having issues with your physical health. There isn't a single test that can be used to identify mental health disorders. However, a diagnosis can be given by a psychiatrist, other medical professionals, or clinical psychologists. Mental health professionals use a classification system called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which separates disorders such as bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and depression into categories. Non-categorical systems, like the one devised by German psychiatrist Kraepelin in the 19th century, as well as more recent ones, including the dimension models, are alternatives to diagnose. There is a constant debate in the scientific community about the relative merits of categorical systems versus non-categorical ones. Stigmatisation can lead to negative outcomes for people who suffer from mental illness. Additionally, there are many different movements and organisations that are working to educate people about mental health issues and dispel the myths surrounding them. These include the Royal College of Psychiatrists' campaign Changing Minds, and the Carter Centre in the United States, which supports fellowships for journalists to research and write about mental health and illness. Diagnosis The first step to manage your symptoms is to seek an accurate diagnosis of mental illness. A diagnosis will help your doctor determine what's causing mood or behavior issues, and decide on the most efficient treatment. Depending on the disease, you might need outpatient treatment, hospitalization or medication. A mental health evaluation will also allow your doctor to determine if a physical condition is the cause of your symptoms. During the mental status examination Your doctor will ask you questions about how you're feeling and thinking. They can also conduct physical examinations to check for muscle weakness or changes in vision, or a difficulty walking. They will ask about any medication you take, including over-the-counter medicines and supplements. There are a variety of tests for mental health including self-report questions to brain imaging techniques. Some tests are used to detect specific illnesses, such as anxiety or depression. Some tests are used to assess a person's capabilities, such as their memory or concentration. One of the most important parts of a mental health assessment is the cognitive evaluation that checks for any conditions that affect the way you think. Your doctor will test your alertness, capacity to pay attention and focus, memory, reading comprehension and the use of language to express yourself. They may also ask you to read an excerpt of a story and inquire about it later to look for paraphasic mistakes (mistakes in pronunciation) and semantic errors (mistakes in meaning) and neologisms (meaningless words that are written the same as real words but have no meaning). Some tests measure a patient's behavior or emotions such as a personality inventory. These tests will reveal if you are more optimistic, pessimistic, or empathetic, or if you are likely to trust others or be competitive. Other tests test the skills, capabilities and motivations, for example workplace competence or values. Many mental health professionals have their own set of assessments tools they prefer to employ. They can also mix these tools with other methods, like conducting interviews with clients or recording physiological functions. The MMPI-2 is among the most widely used psychometric tests in the world. It measures your thoughts, feelings and behavior. It comes with 10 scales of clinical validity, and three subscales to detect defenses, lies, and inconsistent responses. Treatment Many people face difficulties and some may even suffer from a mental disorder. Mental illness can lead to a lot of problems that affect everyone around the person. It can lead to unemployment or homelessness, substance abuse, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and a lower quality of life. Treatment for mental disorders is extremely efficient and can greatly improve a person's life. The treatment involves some form of therapy and medication. Some patients require a stay in a mental hospital. In a mental health assessment in a mental health assessment, a doctor will determine how well the individual thinks and how well he or she remembers and processes information (cognitive functioning). The doctor will ask the person questions and will examine the person. The doctor can also inquire about the way in which the person interacts together with other people. The mental health test can include tests to measure short-term memory which is the capacity to recall information instantly after completing an intellectual task. The test could include learning four concepts unrelated to each other or sentences, objects, or someone's name and address. After 3 to 5 minutes, you are asked to recall the information. The Beck Anxiety Inventory, a popular self report test for anxiety assessment is used to gauge anxiety. In some instances, the doctor will order a physical examination to rule out neurological issues like Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease. These conditions can be similar to mental disorders. During a physical exam, the doctor will check the patient's reflexes as well as their sensory perception. He will also check their gait and posture. The doctor may also perform a urine or blood test to determine if there is an infection or other diseases which could affect the patient's mental condition. mental health diagnostic assessment used treatments for mental disorders include talking treatments and psychiatric medication. Talking therapies include psychotherapy as well as group therapy. Medications are often prescribed as antidepressants, benzodiazepines or mood stabilizers. Psychiatric medications can ease symptoms, but they aren't always effective. The effectiveness of treatment is contingent on the severity and nature of disorder, the patient's response and the amount of time that the patient is in treatment. Getting treatment early can prevent the symptoms from becoming worse and can make recovery more likely.