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NCMHCE Review Part 2
Screening
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Screening Questions — Anxiety
~ Do you worry about a lot of things most of the time?
~ Do you worry about specific things like germs or getting into a car accident a lot?
~ Do you get so worked up that you cannot eat or sleep?

Screening –PTSD
~ Have you been in really bad situations in which you had no control?
~ Have you been in terrifying situations?
~ Do you ever have memories of those situations that disrupt your day?
~ Do you startle really easily?
~ Do you find yourself being irritable and pessimistic?
Anger
~ Do you often get angry?
~ When you get angry, do you feel like you are ready to explode?
~ Do you think you are more irritable than other people?
Screening Questions — Depression
~ Do you feel pleasure or happiness on a regular basis?
~ Have your sleep patterns changed?
~ How is your appetite?
~ Do you often feel guilty?
~ How is your energy throughout the day?
ADHD
~ Do you have difficulty finishing tasks?
~ Do you have difficulty getting organized?
~ Do you have difficulty if you have to sit still for a long time?
~ Do you have difficulty staying focused and filtering out distractions
~ Do you have difficulty waiting your turn or not interrupting?
OCD
~ Do you sometimes have thoughts you cannot get out of your head?
~ How much time do these thoughts take up on average each day?
~ Do you ever feel like you have to do something over and over or something bad is going to happen?
~ How much time do you spend each day doing these things?

Delusions and Hallucinations
~ Have you ever thought that people could read your mind or control your thoughts?
~ Have you ever felt like your mind was playing tricks on you?
~ Do you ever see or hear things that other people cannot see or hear?
~ Do you ever have difficulty knowing if you are awake or dreaming?

Eating Disorders
~ How would you describe your eating habits?
~ Do you have any concerns about your weight?
~ How do you maintain your weight?
Impulsivity
~ Do you ever find yourself doing things without really thinking about the consequences first?
~ Do you ever do things you know you shouldn’t but just cannot seem to stop yourself?
~ Do you buy things that you really don’t need just because they are there?
Mania
~ Have you ever had so much energy that you couldn’t sit still
~ Have you ever found yourself not needing sleep or needing much less than usual?
~ Do you have times when you talk a lot more than usual and your brain seems to be going really quickly?
Substance Misuse
~ Have you been bothered by “using medicines or drugs without a doctor’s prescription, or in greater amounts or longer than prescribed?
~ Have you used more than intended or spent more time engaging in an activity than intended?
~ Have you spend more time planning, engaging in or recovering from the use of the substance or activity?
~ Have you given up or had difficulty in significant areas of your life as a result of use of the substance or engaging in the activity.
~ CAGE
~ Cutting Down
~ Annoyed
~ Guilt
~ Eye Opener

Summary
~ It is important to screen for a variety of issues
~ Know the diagnostic criteria for the most common mental illnesses
~ Many disorders have overlapping symptoms
~ Anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, Bipolar and Depression for example
~ Psychiatry.org has multiple free Cross Cutting Symptom Measures to be aware of
~ Screening just gives you a launch pad to help guide the in-depth biopsychosocial assessment
Test Taking Tip
~ First Priority is identifying the diagnoses for everyone in the scenario.
~ Don’t try to be too broad.
~ If the scenario is about someone who recently underwent a traumatic event and the question asks for what to evaluate to support a provisional diagnosis, think about what you would assess for a provisional PTSD/ASD diagnosis, not a blanket evaluation for every comorbid axis 1 condition.