A Mental Status Examination

Amanda Byles, the Rising Star

Amanda Byles is a well-known American film actress who is 31 years old. Her rise to fame in the film industry began when she was a child in the early 2000s. Ms. Amanda seemed suitably clothed and groomed in a smart white short dress and black shoes during her appearance on Mr. Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. She appeared slightly younger than her given age. She seemed restless and anxious in her seat during the interview. She appeared cheerful, with direct eye contact and loud speaking. Furthermore, Amanda was attentive and cooperative throughout the interview, answering to all queries. Overall, she was open-minded and enthusiastically provided information and details about all aspects of her personal history during related questioning.

Abnormalities in Communication and Behavior

Ms. Amanda displayed some of the abnormalities with the way she communicated and behaved throughout the interview. Her abstract reasoning and social judgment appeared adequate, although she seemed triumphal and hyped (Mansell & Pedley, 2008). A person could tell the abnormality in her excitement. Moreover, Ms. Amanda had a lot of energy in responding to the interview questions unreasonably. This was in contrast to her demeanor as she looked gorgeous and charming. She did not seem to be suffering from a psychotic illness, as she thought patterns appeared logical, coherent, and goal-directed.

Elevated Activity Levels and Energetic Behavior

Ms. Amanda’s activity levels escalated the more she was interviewed but did not exhibit any significant symptoms of inattentiveness, concentration, or distractibility, as she remained on-task and in-topic throughout the evaluation. However, as she spoke to the show host, Mr. Jay, she showed increased activity levels and became jumpy and “wired” from the beginning to the end of the interview. She was super excited on expressing herself and her relation to her parents going further by providing detailed information about all aspects of her personal history during the related interrogation.

Hyperactivity and Rapid Speech

In the whole interview, Ms. Amanda seemed more active than usual. This is common signs and symptoms of hyperactivity from an individual (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). In addition to that, she was talking really fast about a couple of different things. She also appeared to be energetic in her body movements into an extent of posing questions to the host. For instance, Mr. Jay asked Ms. Amanda if she had a boyfriend and she responded. In turn, she asked Mr. Jay if he had a girlfriend too.

Irritability and Restlessness

Ms. Amanda appeared irritable, agitated and “touchy” as she was touching her laps time by time. Her restlessness was noticed when she said “Hi” to the gentleman who was sitting next to her during the show. One could ask several unanswered questions about that because it was odd for her to greet the guy at the end of the interview and yet she had been sitting next to him from the beginning of the show. Researches have proven that during a hypomanic moment, an individual may feel jubilant and over self-possessed (Zaretsky, Rizvi, & Parikh, 2007). The person may not realize that anything is wrong, but friends and family may identify the mood swings and changes in activity levels as a possible bipolar disorder.

Possible Bipolar Disorder

Considering all the observations in her interview, it is probable that she was suffering from bipolar disorder, characterized by extreme self-confidence unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels.

References

Mansell, W., & Pedley, R. (2008). The ascent into mania: a review of psychological processes associated with the development of manic symptoms. Clinical Psychology Review. 28 (3), 494–520.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIH). (2016). Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml

Zaretsky, A.E., Rizvi S, & Parikh, S.V. (2007). How well do psychosocial interventions work in bipolar disorder? Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 52 (1), 14–21.