Assessment > Psychiatric Interview > History of Presenting Complaint > Mood Disorder
Mood Disorder
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Current mood
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Onset of mood change
- If sustained - “How has your mood varied recently?”
- Sustained low but period of lowering, including being lower in the morning
- What was happening? (Stressors - in terms of events seen as loss, entrapment or humiliation)
- Duration of lowering of mood
- Any highs? - mood elevation, onset, duration, irritability, changes in behaviour- spending/more friendly, subjective racing of thoughts
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Sleep
- decreased, excessive, early morning wakening
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Appetite/ weight loss
- “Are your clothes any looser, do you skip meals?”
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Memory or concentration
- “Do you forget minor things, can you follow the television or read books?”
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Libido
- “Have you found yourself less interested in sex?”
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Enjoyment
- "Are you looking forward to anything, is there anything you used to like to do?”
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Energy
- “Do you feel more tired/leave the house/get out of bed?”
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Negative thoughts - Hopelessness
- “What do you think about yourself/the world-others/the future?
- “Do you think things may get better?”
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Suicide
- “When some people are low in mood they have thoughts that life is not worth living, have you experienced anything like that?”
- “Have you had any thought of what you might do?”
- “What stopped you from doing it?”
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Psychotic symptoms
- “Do you ever have any experiences which were distressing and seemed unusual to you?”
- “Do you ever have any thoughts that upset you?”
- Full assessment of psychotic symptoms.