The three important components of this interview are patient history, health examination and clinical judgment. Patient history includes gathering information about previous medical conditions and medications.

Always Establish the Chronology of Events Timing is everything. Use these questions to help you get a sense of the timeline: “How do you feel now?”, “How do you feel compared to your well self?”, “When did you last feel 'normal/well'?” Always compare the patient's current symptoms to their baseline.

The goals of the psychiatric interview are: Build rapport. Collect data about the patient's current difficulties, past psychiatric history and medical history, as well as relevant developmental, interpersonal and social history. Diagnose the mental health issue(s).

The purpose of a psychiatric interview is to establish a therapeutic relationship with the patient to collect, organize and formulate a differential diagnosis and treatment plan.