Which term is the external expression of emotional state?

• A. Grooming and Hygiene
• B. Neglect
• C. Facial Expression
• D. Affect

Answer: (D)

Affect is the outward display of emotion—the observable emotional expression you see in a patient’s face, voice, posture, and gestures. This is what clinicians assess during the mental status exam to judge how emotion is being conveyed to others. Mood, by contrast, is the internal, subjective emotional state that the person reports feeling and tends to be more enduring over time. In practice, we check whether the affect matches the mood and the situation; for example, a patient may report sadness, but a flat or incongruent affect would suggest a mismatch worth noting. Facial expression is a part of affect, but the broader term for the external expression of emotional state is affect. Grooming and Hygiene and Neglect describe self-care or behavior, not the emotional expression itself.