Purpose of health history - The purpose of the health history is to collect subjective data, what the person says about himself or herself.  This is different from objective data, what you observe through measurement, inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation.

How to document reason for seeking care - This is a brief spontaneous statement in the person's own words that describes the reason for the visit.  Think of it as the 'title' for the story to follow.  It states one, possibly two symptoms or signs and their duration.  Try to record whatever the person says is the reason for seeking care, enclose it in quotation marks to indicate the person's exact words and record a time frame.

How to assess mental status - Mental status cannot be scrutinized directly like the characteristics of skin or heart sounds.  It's functioning is inferred through assessment of an individual's behaviors.  This includes, Consciousness, Language, Mood and affect, orientation, attention, memory, abstract reasoning, thought process, thought content and perceptions.  
	Note:  It is not necessary to perform a full mental status examination unless you discover any abnormality in affect or behavior, or a basic assessment suggests a mental status assessment should be done.  You should also keep in mind when assessing mental health, that a hierarchy should be followed, IE you can't assess the memory status of a person who isn't alert and oriented.  

How to assess patient's judgement - To assess judgement in the context of the interview, note what the person says about job plans, social or family obligations, and plans for the future.  Job and future plans should be realistic, considering the person's health situation.  Also ask the person to describe the rationale for personal health care and how he or she decided about whether or not to comply with prescribed health regimens.  The person's actions and decisions should be realistic.  
	Note:  Impaired judgement (unrealistic impulsive decisions, wish fulfillment occurs with mental retardation, emotional dysfunction, schizophrenia, and organic brain disease.

Commonly used illicit substance of those > 12 -  Slightly more than half (51.6%) of Americans ages 12+ reported being current alcohol drinkers.  Marauana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 6.1% of persons ages 12+ reporting past month use.  

Tolerance, what it is - Tolerance is the requirement of ingesting increased amount of a substance to produce the same effect.  In essence, the body begins adjusting to the levels of a substance in the body and therefore more is needed to reach the same level of effect on the body.