Mental Status Examination in a clinical setting (MSE in clinical psychiatry) plays an important role in the diagnosis and management.

A mental status examination is an essential tool that aids physicians in making psychiatric diagnoses. It is analogous to the physical exam in general medicine. it is a series of observations and examinations at one point in time. The mental status examination includes a historic report from the patient and observational data gathered by the physician throughout the patient encounter. Major challenges include incorporating key components of the mental status examination into a routine office visit and determining when a more detailed examination or referral is necessary.

Although our observations occur in the context of an interview and may therefore be ordered differently for each patient, the report of our findings is ordered and "paints a picture" of a patient's appearance, thinking, emotion and cognition. The data from the Mental Status Exam, combined with personal and family histories and Psychiatric Review of Systems, form the data base from which psychiatric diagnoses are formed.

The mental status examination can help distinguish between mood disorders, thought disorders, and cognitive impairment, and it can guide appropriate diagnostic testing and referral to a psychiatrist or other mental health professional.

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