A colleague tells you that assessment of insight is a ‘dubious concept’ because such questions are ‘really about finding out how much a consumer knows about and agrees with the psychiatric diagnosis she or he has been given. This statement leaves you thinking more deeply about assessment in mental health and what the basis might be for this point of view. Working in small groups, answer the following questions:
• List the aims and objectives of undertaking a MSE.
• Why is therapeutic engagement a critical component of the MSE process?
• To what extent can a MSE be a useful guide to inform collaborative care?
• How might you respond to the statement that ‘assessment of insight is a dubious concept’?
