NUR 256 Study Guide for Mental Health Exam 1: Key Concepts and
Assessments | Verified study with complete Solutions | A+
Graded | 2026 Updates | 100% correct
Unit 1: Chp. 1, 7,8,9
➢ Mental Health and Mental Illness
○ Mental health is the state of well-being in which individuals reach their
potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productivity, and
contribute to the community.
○ Mental illness includes all psychiatric disorders with clear diagnoses.
○ Mental health continuum: the middle ground between mental health and
mental illness.
■ One end is mental health.
■ Opposite end is mental illness.
● Individuals have either emotional problems or concerns and
experience mild to moderate discomfort & distress.
● Mild impairment in functioning such as insomnia, lack of
concentration, or loss of appetite may be felt.
● Most severely affected individuals fall into this portion of the
continuum. Individuals experience altered thinking, mood,
and behavior.
○ Risk Factors:
■ Individual attributes and behaviors: characteristics that are inborn
and learned, making us who we are.
● Resilience is the ability and capacity for people to secure the
resources they need to support their wellbeing. Characterized
by:
■ Ability to secure needed resources
■ Capacity for regulating one’s own emotions and
overcoming negative, self-defeating thoughts.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 61371432
■ (Box 1.1 Brief Resilient Coping scale) measures
how well you regulate your emotions.
Essential recovery
■ Biological and genetic factors
● Ex. of biologic factors (prenatal exposure to alcohol & O2
deprivation)
■ Social and economic circumstances:
● Family: shapes confidence, coping skills, or feelings of
anxiety and inadequacy.
● Schools and peer groups
● Socioeconomic status ● Educational Advancement ■
Environmental:
● Political climate
● Cultural considerations
● Social and economic policies
○ Global
○ National
○ State
○ Local government levels
○ Patient Rights ( *take a picture of it @ clinical!*)
■ Right to refuse treatment
■ Right to privacy
■ Right to HIPAA
■ Right to informed consent
■ Advanced directives
● Documentation required
● When healthcare has the right to override patient’s rights
➢ Psychiatric assessment
○ Epidemiology: study of the distribution of mental disorders
■ Identify high-risk groups
■ Identify high-risk factors
■ Incidence = Number of new cases in a given time
■ Prevalence = Number of cases regardless of when they began
■ Lifetime Risk = Risk that one will develop a disease in the course
of a lifetime
, ■ Clinical Epidemiology: groups treated for specific mental disorders
studied for
● Natural History of Illness
● Diagnostic Screening tests
● Interventions
■ Results Used to Describe Frequency of
● Mental Disorders
● Symptoms appearing together
○ Comorbid conditions: Table 1.1 Twelve month on pg. 10
■ Major depressive disorder
■ Generalized anxiety disorder (lol me)
■ Posttraumatic stress disorder
○ DSM-V(5): created by the American Psychiatric Association in 1952, and
updated in 2013, outlines 157 disorders with diagnostic criteria used in
diverse healthcare settings, including inpatient, outpatient, and community
care.
■ Remember DSM 5 Classifies the DISORDER not the PERSON ■
List of disorders categories:
● Neurodevelopmental Disorders
● Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
● Bipolar and Related Disorders
● Depressive Disorders
● Anxiety Disorders
● Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
● Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
● Dissociative Disorders
● Somatic Symptom Disorders
● Feeding and Eating Disorders
● Elimination Disorders
● Sleep-Wake Disorders
● Sexual Dysfunctions
● Gender Dysphoria
● Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders
● Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
● Neurocognitive Disorders
● Personality Disorders
Assessments | Verified study with complete Solutions | A+
Graded | 2026 Updates | 100% correct
Unit 1: Chp. 1, 7,8,9
➢ Mental Health and Mental Illness
○ Mental health is the state of well-being in which individuals reach their
potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productivity, and
contribute to the community.
○ Mental illness includes all psychiatric disorders with clear diagnoses.
○ Mental health continuum: the middle ground between mental health and
mental illness.
■ One end is mental health.
■ Opposite end is mental illness.
● Individuals have either emotional problems or concerns and
experience mild to moderate discomfort & distress.
● Mild impairment in functioning such as insomnia, lack of
concentration, or loss of appetite may be felt.
● Most severely affected individuals fall into this portion of the
continuum. Individuals experience altered thinking, mood,
and behavior.
○ Risk Factors:
■ Individual attributes and behaviors: characteristics that are inborn
and learned, making us who we are.
● Resilience is the ability and capacity for people to secure the
resources they need to support their wellbeing. Characterized
by:
■ Ability to secure needed resources
■ Capacity for regulating one’s own emotions and
overcoming negative, self-defeating thoughts.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 61371432
■ (Box 1.1 Brief Resilient Coping scale) measures
how well you regulate your emotions.
Essential recovery
■ Biological and genetic factors
● Ex. of biologic factors (prenatal exposure to alcohol & O2
deprivation)
■ Social and economic circumstances:
● Family: shapes confidence, coping skills, or feelings of
anxiety and inadequacy.
● Schools and peer groups
● Socioeconomic status ● Educational Advancement ■
Environmental:
● Political climate
● Cultural considerations
● Social and economic policies
○ Global
○ National
○ State
○ Local government levels
○ Patient Rights ( *take a picture of it @ clinical!*)
■ Right to refuse treatment
■ Right to privacy
■ Right to HIPAA
■ Right to informed consent
■ Advanced directives
● Documentation required
● When healthcare has the right to override patient’s rights
➢ Psychiatric assessment
○ Epidemiology: study of the distribution of mental disorders
■ Identify high-risk groups
■ Identify high-risk factors
■ Incidence = Number of new cases in a given time
■ Prevalence = Number of cases regardless of when they began
■ Lifetime Risk = Risk that one will develop a disease in the course
of a lifetime
, ■ Clinical Epidemiology: groups treated for specific mental disorders
studied for
● Natural History of Illness
● Diagnostic Screening tests
● Interventions
■ Results Used to Describe Frequency of
● Mental Disorders
● Symptoms appearing together
○ Comorbid conditions: Table 1.1 Twelve month on pg. 10
■ Major depressive disorder
■ Generalized anxiety disorder (lol me)
■ Posttraumatic stress disorder
○ DSM-V(5): created by the American Psychiatric Association in 1952, and
updated in 2013, outlines 157 disorders with diagnostic criteria used in
diverse healthcare settings, including inpatient, outpatient, and community
care.
■ Remember DSM 5 Classifies the DISORDER not the PERSON ■
List of disorders categories:
● Neurodevelopmental Disorders
● Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
● Bipolar and Related Disorders
● Depressive Disorders
● Anxiety Disorders
● Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
● Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
● Dissociative Disorders
● Somatic Symptom Disorders
● Feeding and Eating Disorders
● Elimination Disorders
● Sleep-Wake Disorders
● Sexual Dysfunctions
● Gender Dysphoria
● Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders
● Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
● Neurocognitive Disorders
● Personality Disorders
