The text explains how mental health workers rely on impressions and must resist halo effects. It also focuses on the difficulties in obtaining basic information such as medical information and family, educational, and work history in someone who is motivated to tell everything wrong or someone who avoids suggesting that anything is wrong. The text also focuses on the principles of physical examination, the review of the mental status, the evaluation of signs and syndromes, and the identification of possible mental disorders. Case histories are provided to illustrate the concepts and techniques. The text uses the terminology of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Checklists and questions, glossary, index, chapter reference lists and suggested further readings, and appended discussions of testing instruments and procedures