Examining Mental Health: Components and Principles

RUNNING HEAD: MENTAL HEALTH 0
MENTAL HEALTH
Student’s Details-
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

MENTAL HEALTH 1
Question 1
Examining the mental health of the patient helps the nurse to identify the
symptoms of a particular disease which can enable in giving the right diagnosis to the
patient. Therefore, mental health examination is the evaluation of behavior, attitude,
perception and overall functionality of a patient in order to analyze the diagnosis to be
given (Jacobi, et al., 2015). Similarly, examining the mental status of Munny Kaew is
crucial for a nurse in order to attain better knowledge of his condition. Mental Health
Examination has different components or principles according to which information is
gathered and analyzed in order to give proper diagnosis. Firstly, the behavior of Munny
can be determined for the mental status of Munny. Behavior is determined by the
actions, perceptions and thoughts of patients (Pollard, 2018). By examining the
behavior of Munny, his ability to make interactions and also his facial expressions,
ability to make eye contact and his speaking are the factors that are examined for
assessing the mental status of Munny. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorder contains of different categories of mental disorder along with the symptoms
and treatment to be given (Cherry, 2019). On 18 May 2013, DSM-5 was launched by
American Psychiatric Association (APA) to facilitate clinicians in identifying the
diagnosis and an easier way for undertaking the right treatment for the patient
(Morrison, 2017). First criteria for mental status of Munny is ‘depressive disorder’ which
is examined from the fact that Munny has negative attitude and has often lost purpose
in his life. After fulfilling this criterion, the nurse is expected to check the score of
PROMIS and if he attains lower score under this evaluation. Then it can be determined

MENTAL HEALTH 2
that his mental condition falls under the criteria of depressive disorders and hence
proper diagnosis as per the specifications of this disorder can be given.
Another component for examination can be appearance and general behavior
which determines the overall impression of the patient. Physical appearance, body
language and the ability to make interactions are included in this. Similarly, Munny is
well dressed when enters in center which means he believes in self-care and also, he
does not make eye contact which describes his behavior. Also, the speech of Munny is
disorganized and has negative symptoms of the emotional wellbeing. The second
criteria for the mental status of Munny falls under trauma and stress related disorder
under DSM-5. As Munny is highly traumatized by the death of her mother, he has
suffered through stress. Munny was very close to his mother and because of which he
faced the sufferings by his mother’s death. Thus, it can be evaluated that Munny is not
having any medicinal disorder and according to his mental condition, it can be said that
he is not in influence of drug or alcohol and because of which motivational factor can be
worked for the improvement in his mental condition.
Question 2
Stress-Vulnerability model explains the causes of a particular disorder and also
the effects or consequences of that disorder that can be harmful for the mental health of
the patient (Calvete, Orue, & Hankin, 2015). The model has majorly two factors which
are stress and vulnerability. Stress arises when a person loses interest in the daily
activities and vulnerability has been determined to be generated from past experiences
(Andreano, Touroutoglou, Dickerson, & Barrett, 2018). Biological vulnerability is