Question

Pick one of the two options below Option 1: Mini-Mental Status Examination The Mini-Mental Status Examination, originally developed by Folstein, Folstein, and McHugh (1975) in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 12, pp. 186–198, in the original or revisesd form is commonly used to conduct a quick assessment of dementia and overall mental functioning. Pick four of the main questions and discuss how the answers you might receive from a person might differ if a) the someone appears to ahve h no cognitive impairment versus b) a perosn shows mild cognitive impairment versus c) a perosn shows severe cognitive impairment? Discuss the advantages and limitations of the MMSE? Do not simply quote or paraphrase your references - explain what you learned in your own words. Option 2: Head Injuries Research and read at least two peer-reviewed articles on the topic of head injuries and mental health problems related to sports (football, full contact martial arts, boxing, etc.) or from accidents or combat injuries. Include any issues related to co-morbidity that you found or that you would expect might occur. Describe/summarize what you found in terms of symptoms. How might these symptoms mislead or confuse a mental health practitioner when assessing a patient and about making a diagnosis, for example: a professional assumes a mental disorder (i.e., a depression, bi-polar disorder, personality disorder, etc.) is the main issie, not realizing a person has an unstated history several mild to moderate head concussions, or a history of severe seizures, or a single severe episode of head trauma.

Answer 1

Option 2 -

Sports-related Head Injury

Although sports injuries rarely contribute to fatalities, the leading cause of death from sports-related injuries is traumatic brain injury.

Sports and recreational activities contribute to about 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children and adolescents.

Traumatic Brain Injury :

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain.

TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.

Symptoms :

TBI can be mild, moderate or severe, depending on the extent of damage to the brain. Mild cases (mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI) may result in a brief change in mental state or consciousness, while severe cases may result in extended periods of unconsciousness, coma or even death.

example :

The 4th International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, Switzerland in 2012 defined concussion, a subset of mTBI, as the following:

Concussion :

The historical term representing low velocity injuries that cause brain ‘shaking’ resulting in clinical symptoms and that are not necessarily related to a pathological injury.

Concussion is a subset of TBI and will be the term used in this document.

It was also noted that the term commotio cerebri is often used in European and other countries.

Minor revisions were made to the definition of concussion, which is defined as follows:

Concussion is a brain injury and is defined as a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces.

Features :

Several common features that incorporate clinical, pathologic and biomechanical injury constructs that may be utilized in defining the nature of a concussive head injury include the following:

- Concussion may be caused either by a direct blow to the head, face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an impulsive force transmitted to the head.

- Concussion typically results in the rapid onset of short-lived impairment of neurological function that resolves spontaneously.

However, in some cases, symptoms and signs may evolve over a number of minutes to hours.

- Concussion may result in neuropathological changes, but the acute clinical symptoms largely reflect a functional disturbance rather than a structural injury and, as such, no abnormality is seen on standard structural neuroimaging studies.

- Concussion results in a graded set of clinical symptoms that may or may not involve loss of consciousness.

Resolution of the clinical and cognitive symptoms typically follows a sequential course.

However, it is important to note that in some cases symptoms may be prolonged.