ABSTRACT
The examination of the mental state is an orderly and systematic procedure like that of the physical examination. It is carried out routinely for each new patient and is repeated, either in whole or in part, on every subsequent occasion that the patient is seen. A summary of the main aspects of the mental state follows this introduction. Each of these aspects is then considered in turn, with a description of the observations that are to be made and the tests that will be carried out, the interpretation of these observations, and their relevance to diagnosis. The division of the mental state into these parts is convenient, but to some extent arbitrary, because they tend to overlap.
