Mental status examination should note physical appearance, affect, orientation, speech pattern, behavior, level of consciousness, attention, language, memory, judgment, thought content, and perceptual abnormalities. Findings such as abnormal vital signs, disorientation with clouded consciousness, abnormal findings on mental status exam, recent memory loss, age > 40 without prior history of psychiatric disease, focal neurologic signs, visual hallucinations, and psychomotor retardation may indicate an organic etiology for the behavior and serve as a guide for further evaluation. Visual hallucinations are more suggestive of a medical etiology, whereas auditory hallucinations support a psychiatric etiology.