10 parts of the Mental Status Exam (alt: ABC STAMP LICKER)

The Mental Status Exam is the psychiatric equivalent of a Physical Exam. I struggled to remember all of the components and I found it helpful to break it down into 10 parts for rehearsal. My resident told me about ABC STAMP LICKER after I developed my own method, but I'll share it with you as well.

1. Appearance
2. Behavior
3. Cooperation (note eye contact, degree of friendliness/hostility)
4. Mood/Affect
5. Speech
6. Thought (PCP: Process, Content, Perceptions)
7. Cognition and Fund
8. Abstraction (ask "What is meant by 'a rolling stone gathers no moss'?" or "what makes a table and a chair similar?")
9. Insight
10. Judgment

The alternate version (ABC STAMP LICKER):

• Appearance
• Behavior
• Cooperation
  
• Speech
• Thought (Process, Content)
• Affect
• Mood
• Perception (AH/VH)
  
• Level of consciousness
• Insight
• Cognition
• Knowledge fund/base
• Endings (Suicidal, homicidal)
• Reliability

Here is a sample student write-up from the UIC Dept of Psychiatry.