A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; further:
- Inspection (viewing).
- Skin, mucous membranes, and sclerae (white part of the eye) [symptom of a depressive episode: increased sweating].
- Inspection and palpation (palpation) of the thyroid gland.
- Auscultation (listening) of the heart [due topossible secondary diseases: cardiac arrhythmias].
- Examination of the lungs
- Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (abdomen)
- Inspection (viewing).
- Neurological examination[due todifferential diagnoses:
- Dementia (Pick’s disease: neurodegenerative disease in the frontotemporal area of the brain/frontotemporal dementia, FTD) occurring after the age of 60.
- Epilepsy
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) with encephalopathy (brain changes)]
[due topossible sequelae:
- Headache
- Migraine]
- Psychiatric examination[due todifferential diagnoses:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
- Depression
- Emotionally unstable personality disorder
- Complex impulse control disorders
- Personality disorder, unspecified
- Schizoaffective disorder – mental disorder that combines symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder (manic-depressive disorder).
- Schizophrenia – severe mental illness characterized by disturbances of thinking, perception and affectivity.
- Substance dependence, unspecified]
[due topossible sequelae:
- Anxiety disorders
- Impulse control disorders such as eating disorders, personality disorders, or ADHD.
- Substance abuse/dependence]
- Health Check
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
