Niall McLaren's Interview Introductory Questions 1) Hi there nice to meet you, I'm Dr. _____, a psychiatrist.

Who's referred you? 2) So what's the trouble, what brought you in today? CC 3) Don't worry about what you've been diagnosed with before, tell me yourself why you're here. 4) What sort of work are you doing? 5) So where are you living? 6) So what medications are you taking now? 7) So when did you move here? 8) So who's been prescribing your medications? Vegetative Questions 1) So over the past few weeks or so, how have you been feeling in yourself? 2) What's your sleep been? 3) So what time do you go to bed? 4) And what time do you get to sleep? If large space between the two What stops you from sleeping earlier? 5) What time do you wake up? 6) How do you feel when you get up? 7) Is it solid sleep or restless? If restless, Do you get back to bed? 8) Do you have dreams? 9) Do you have naps in the daytime? 10) Do you sleep in on the weekends? 11) So what's your appetite like? 12) And what's your weight doing? 1. If a large loss- That's a lot of weight to lose. Were you trying? 2. If a large gain- Why do you think your weight has gone up? 13) What's your level of energy like? 14) How about your level of activity? Do you exercise? 15) Now what about your level of interest in things, firstly in your personal life (hobbies, interests, etc.) 16) How about your interest in your work? Do you get along with your coworkers and customers? 17) And your study? What do you want to do? 18) And your motivation to do things, what's that like? 19) So your motivation's terrible. What about your social life? Do you mix with people? 20) So do you think you have a social life? 21) How about your sexual interest? What's that like? Cognitive Section 1) What about your memory? 2) How about your concentration? 3) Does your mind drift and wander, or are you distracted by everything? 4) Are you able to make decisions or do you put them off? *Pt then answered that he put them off 1. Do you put them off because it's too much hard work or because you're scared of making mistakes? 5) Are you able to think clearly, with one thought leading on to the next or do you get confused and flustered? 6) You mean you have too many thoughts tumbling in your head?

7) And what do you tend to think about, what's on your mind? *Pt mentions things he thinks about at
work. 8) And when you're not at work, what do you think about? *Pt mentions that at night he thinks about how he's going to get out. 9) You mean out of the mess or out of your life? 10) And have you had any peculiar experiences, like hearing or seeing things that didn't make sense? 11) What about a sense of things seeming unreal? 12) So you feel the world is real but you're changed. Do you have it the other way around, you're normal but the world has changed? 13) What about time? Do you have the feeling of time speeding up or slowing down? 14) Your body? Does that ever seem strange? Mood Depressive Section 1) Ok, so most of the time, most days, how would you say you feel in yourself? *Dead shit 2) You actually feel low and miserable? 3) How bad is it? What percentage of the time are you like that? 4) Do you ever get to the stage of saying I'm sick of the way things are? 5) Sick of life itself? 6) Do you get to the stage of saying if I dropped dead, it would be a relief? 7) Do you get to the stage of saying I could finish my life, it's that easy? Maybe look at a branch on a tree and think it would be strong enough, or just say I could jerk the wheel and it would be all over? *Yeah 8) A lot? 9) Do you have any urge to act on those ideas or do they just in and out? 10) And what is the cause of your unhappiness? *I'm bipolar, chemicals in the brain or something. 1. No, the actual cause. Why are you unhappy? *Oh you mean....? Like, no job and no career and no girlfriend? 2. Yes. So why do you not have a job and a career? 3. So you don't know? 4. So you don't know the actual cause? Mood elevated section 1) Do you ever feel the opposite of depressed, you feel fantastic, full of energy and on top of the world for no good reason? *Sometimes 2) So it never lasts? Do you ever overspend or do silly things when you're like that? Separate interview 1) Do you ever feel the opposite of depressed, you feel fantastic, full of energy and on top of the world for no good reason? 2) In an ordinary day, do you have bouts where you get very tense and jittery? *I feel like I'm ready to get into a fight 3) Do you get shaky anywhere? *In my hands 4) And sweaty? Sticky palms? 5) Does your heart race when you're agitated? 6) And does your stomach churn? Like hollow, hungry, empty, knotted or butterflies feeling? 7) Do you get short of breath, you feel you want to go outside for fresh air? 8) Do you feel light-headed and unsteady on your feet, dizzy or clumsy?

9) And when you're agitated like this, how do you feel inside? Do you feel frightened or angry, how do you feel? 10) How often does this happen? 11) And how long does each bout last? 12) And what causes them? 13) What about delays or being held up, minor upsets in your routine? *Pt answers that money is the problem. Mood anxiety section 1) Now, in your ordinary daily life, is there anything you are frankly scared of, like heights, confined spaces, wide open spaces? 2) See that roof over there, could you walk on that? 3) Thunder and lightning, water darkness, dirt, disorder, contamination, do they scare you? 4) Weapons like firearms and knives? 5) Any animals scare you? Rats, bats, frogs, toads, snakes, spiders, cockroaches, creepy crawlies, centipedes, scorpions, worms, leeches, maggots, birds, cats, dogs? 6) What about dealing with people? Do you become nervous in crowds? 7) What about standing in a queue with people straight behind you? 8) Public speaking? 9) Appointments and interviews, tests and exams? 10) Public transport? 11) Threats or criticism? 12) Arguments and disputes, confrontation and saying no to people? 13) OK, what about the thought of letting people down or causing trouble, does that scare you? 14) The thought of loneliness, humiliation, disapproval? 15) What about the thought of making a mistake or failing at something? *Ah mate, that's the worst. Failure. I can't stand being a failure. I'll take crucifixion any day. 16) So it's bad enough to stop you doing something? 17) And illness or death or mental illness? Do they scare you? 18) Hospitals or dentists, blood or needles, they scare you? 19) What about groups of people, like police, military, bikers? 20) Bikers, drunks, gangs, aggressive people? 21) What about people in authority? 22) OK, so when you're out and about, do you have the feeling people are looking at you or talking behind your back? 23) Does this happen with strangers or people who know you? 24) Do you have the feeling that people are judging you? 25) Do you have the feeling people are a danger to you, they're like to have a go in some way? 26) Do you ever have the feeling you're being watched or spied on, you're under surveillance or bugged? 27) Do you have the feeling people are plotting or conspiring against you, they're telling lies or spreading stories, or holding information back from you? Obsessive Compulsive section 1) Now are you a person who checks things all the time; doors, locks, keys, switches, gas caps, that sort of thing? 2) WHY do you check? 3) And if you don't check, what then? 4) Are you very fussy about cleanliness, tidiness, order, punctuality and efficiency?

5) 6) 7)
8)

1. Does that get you into arguments (this was used in a pt who gets in fights so may not be applicable to all pts). Do you have special ways of arranging and ordering or cleaning things, it's got to be done just so, like in a special order? Or if somebody rinses the cups, do you wash them again later? 1. If it's not in order do you have to start over? Do you count things or color code them or touch them in certain ways? Do you have thoughts popping into your head all the time that you know are silly but you can't resist them? But you don't think it's silly at the time, do you?

Recent History Section 1) So how long has all this trouble been going on? 2) No, all the trouble. All the fears, the feeling strange, everything. 3) So there was no particular incident that started it? Personal background section: Family 1) OK, so tell me about your background. Where were you born and raised? 2) So how old is your father now and what is he like as a person? 1. How old were you when they separated? 2. Who raised you after that? 3) So what's your stepfather like as a person? 4) So he's demanding? 5) Controlling? 6) And how did you get along with him? 7) And your mother, how old is she? 8) So what's she like as a person? 9) Do either of them drink? 10) Was there a stepmother? 11) So how many brothers and sisters were there altogether? 12) So how old is your brother? What does he do? 13) So what about your sister? 14) Is there any family history of mental illness? 15) Anybody in the family drinking too much or using illegal drugs? 16) Anybody have a criminal record? 17) So where did you go to school? 1. How old were you when you left that school? 2. How many schools did you go to in all? 3. What sort of grades did you get? 4. Did your grades get better or worse as you got older? 18) Did you get along with teachers? 19) How did you get along with the other kids throughout school? 20) Were you shy or nervous? 21) Did you get into fights? 22) Did you play sports? 23) What were your main interests at school? 24) What was your home life like? 25) Did you go straight to college? (If no) Did you get a job? 1. How many jobs have you had altogether? 2. Why do you so often?

3. Have you ever been fired? 4. Have you been told you're difficult to work with? 26) Have you always been single/ When were you first married/defacto married? 1. Any children?
2. What happened to your marriage (if divorced)? Do you see the children? (If not seeing children) How has this affected you? 3. And how is this second/third/etc marriage? 27) How much do you drink? 28) Any other drugs? 29) Do you gamble? 30) Do you have a police record? 31) And your general health, is that OK? Any past medical conditions? 32) So what sort of sexual experience do you have? Self assessment section 1) Pt is crying. Crying is OK, it's a safety valve. Now how would you see yourself as a person? 2) I mean the person you see yourself to be. Not who you would like to be, or who others would like you to be. 3) Would you see yourself as a nervous person? *No. But you've said you get anxiety attacks. 4) Would you say you're able to stand up for yourself or do you get pushed around? 1. (If yes) And does that cause you trouble? 2. (If no) Did that ever get you into arguments? 5) Would you say you're easily bothered by guilt inside? 6) And shame? 7) Self-conscious? 8) Overall would you say you trust people readily or are you wary of people? 9) Do you see yourself as a tidy, organized sort of person? 10) Patient or impatient? 11) Do you tend to follow rules? 1. (If yes) Do you get angry if other people don't? 12) Would you say you're a social sort of person or you can get by without people? 13) Are you inclined to be jealous? *No that's envy, jealousy is possessive of people. 14) So how do you get on with authority? Bosses, managers, police, government? 15) Do you hold grudges? 16) How do you rate your temper? 1. Mild, moderate, severe, or off the planet? 17) So why do you think you're still a virgin? 18) How do you rate your intellect? 19) How do you rate your self-esteem? 20) OK. So what do you see as your major failing? 21) And what would you say is the nature of your trouble? 22) So what would you like to be done? What's a suitable remedy?