ABSTRACT
The psychiatric interview includes psychiatric history, mental status examination, physical examination, diagnosis, and management plan. The purpose of the psychiatric history is to provide the psychiatrist with an understanding of the patient’s current condition. This is accomplished with an understanding of personal development, the environment in which it occurred, the significance of the principal figures in that environment, and the patient’s adaptive techniques, such as defense mechanisms. The psychiatric history is usually classified into identification data, chief complaint, history of the present illness, personal history, and family history. Identification data include the patient’s name, age, sex, address, occupation, marital status, religion, ethnic background, type of consultation, source of referral, cause of referral, and an idea about the informant if available. Chief complaints should always be stated in the patient’s own words. Some patients directly relate their difficulties to psychosocial stresses: family, work, financial, legal, or health problems.
