Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING 1
Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing
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MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING 2
Question one
A mental status examination is a crucial tool that helps medical practitioners in deriving
psychiatric diagnoses. It encompasses historical reports from the patient an observational data
obtained by the physician when in an encounter with the patient (Vahia, 2013). In reference to
Munny's case, the critical component of the analysis of mental status examination includes the
appearance and general behaviour and mood and effect.
General Behaviour and Appearance
The mental status examination starts when the doctor first encounters the patient and
observes his or her behaviour. How the patients interact with the physician and the surrounding
is essential in revealing the underlying psychiatric clues and disturbances, which signify the
patients mental and emotional state (Schmidt & Tolentino, 2018). In Munny's case, when he
visits the medical center, he appears well dressed; however, his clothes are loose-fitting, which
suggests weight loss. The observed appearance and general behaviour, including the reduction in
the interest of his children and decrease in movement as described are some of the potential
symptoms of depression (Major Depressive disorder) (Goh, & Agius, 2010).
Mood and affect
The mood is the patient's, personal, and emotional state. Mood assessment is based on
patient self-report and physician’s observation. To ensure effective mood assessment, it is
essential to put into considerations the patient’s mood in the past weeks (Norris, Clark, Shipley
& Norris, 2016) Affect is the doctor’s impartial observation of emotional state expressed by the
patient. Affect is defined by the patient’s facial expressions and interactions. Munny’s mood is
described by the wife to have significantly changed from his usual routine. The wife describes

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING 3
Munny’s state at home where Munny has a loss of appetite and a reduced interest in his children,
who were previously his center of attention. The patient exhibits poor eye contact and uses
monosyllabic answers. The patient appears to be in an in-depth thought process attributed to his
stare on the floor. The patient judgment is poor as he shrugs shoulders when asked about his
family feeling if anything happened to him.
Based on the mental status examination components, the symptoms discussed in Munny’s
condition are associated with depression. The different situation that Munny has endured in the
past and the recent history is likely to cause distress. Munny puts a lot of dedication in his day
job; however, his employer still appears to be dissatisfied with his work, and he risks losing the
job if there is no improvement in his career. Munny lost his mother to cancer, and according he
never took time off to mourn the death of his mother instead, he focused on his work to evade
thinking about the loss of his mother whom they were close. Based on the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses, the descriptions presented, and symptoms presented in the
case study, Munny is likely to be suffering from depression. The accumulated feelings of the
past, the loss of his parent, and the thought of losing his job are significant contributes to the
patient’s psychiatric disorder. In Munny’s case the DSM V described include depressed mood,
significant weight loss, slowdown of thought and considerable reduction in physical movements,
diminished interest almost in all activities that he used to carry out before as well as
indecisiveness (Bovin, Marx, Weathers, Gallagher, Rodriguez, Schnurr & Keane, 2016).
Question two
Depression is manifested by a devastating feeling of isolation, grief, and despair that
impacts how an individual feel, functions, and thinks. Many have a major depressive disorder
indicated by the different symptoms he is experiencing, which have significantly interfered with