Question

With the lack of mental health access in our society today, primary care physicians are treating more mental health conditions. A variety of screening tools are available that assist the practitioner in determining the severity of the disease and the success or failure of the treatment.

Choose a patient in your clinical setting and either perform the BATHE, HEEADSSS, PHQ-9 (free apt), or any screening tool listed in your textbooks. Write which one you choose, what it stands for, why you choose it, your results, and the recommended treatment.

Answer 1

Psychological test prove to be very powerful tools for analysis of the index of mental health in individuals. In this regard, Bathe test has been developed as one of the important tools by psychologists. This questionaire-based test utilizes asking 4 types of question to the patients and gives only a short period of time, nearly 1 minute to think and answer. In this manner, the adequate thoughts of the patient about these questions are recorded and analyzed by the psychologist. The 4 types of question utilize the following fields:

1. The personal background of the patient
2. The affects of any present difficulty on the patient
3. The problems faced by the patient with respect to the particular difficultly
4. The impairments faced by the patient in dealing or handling these difficulties

This questionaire is then recorded, empathized and analyzed by the psychologist for obtaining appropriate answers.

Possible result: Since the Bathe test does not give the patient enough time to think over his/her mental state, the answers obtained by the psychologist from the patient and assessment are completely authentic in nature and not manipulated by the patient.

Recommended treatment: Based upon the severity of the answers and results obtained, an appropriate medicinal or psychological treatment would be advised to the patient.