A patient reports experiencing performance anxiety in front of an audience. The nurse should be aware that this type of anxiety is often treated with which medication?

Choice A reason: Prolonged silences may cause withdrawal in some patients, as anxiety from serotonin or GABA imbalances can heighten discomfort. However, this does not guide silence’s use. Silence is therapeutic when timed appropriately, not avoided due to potential withdrawal, making this principle incorrect.

Choice B reason: Nurses breaking silences assumes discomfort, ignoring therapeutic benefits. Silence allows processing, potentially calming amygdala hyperactivity in anxiety. The nurse’s role is to use silence strategically, not to interrupt it routinely, making this principle misaligned with effective interview techniques.

Choice C reason: Silence facilitates reflection, allowing patients to process emotions, reducing stress via hypothalamic calming. In disorders like depression, it supports cognitive restructuring by giving time to integrate thoughts. This principle guides therapeutic silence, aligning with neurobiological benefits of reflective pauses in interviews.

Choice D reason: Silence does not inherently confirm understanding. It may allow emotional processing, but assuming it signals comprehension risks miscommunication. In conditions like anxiety, silence supports reflection, not validation, making this principle less accurate than reflection for guiding its therapeutic use.

Choice A reason: Claiming all mental illnesses can be cured oversimplifies disorders like schizophrenia, which often involve chronic dopamine dysregulation in the prefrontal cortex and limbic system, requiring lifelong management. This approach ignores genetic predispositions and neurobiological complexities, potentially fostering false hope and stigma by implying recovery is universal, disregarding evidence of persistent symptoms in many cases.

Choice B reason: Highlighting creativity and freedom romanticizes mental illnesses, ignoring their debilitating effects. Disorders like bipolar disorder may show creativity in manic phases, but hypomania often impairs judgment and stability. Neuroimaging shows altered amygdala activity in such conditions, causing emotional dysregulation. This portrayal minimizes suffering and misrepresents the neurobiological basis, perpetuating misunderstanding and stigma.

Choice C reason: Correcting misperceptions educates about the neurobiological underpinnings of mental illnesses, such as serotonin imbalances in depression or GABA deficits in anxiety. By addressing myths, nurses promote understanding that these are medical conditions involving brain dysfunction, not personal failings. This fosters empathy, reduces stigma, and aligns with evidence-based approaches to mental health advocacy.

Choice D reason: Attributing most mental illnesses to substance use disorders is inaccurate. While substances can exacerbate symptoms, primary disorders like major depression involve genetic factors and altered neurotransmitter activity, such as reduced serotonin uptake. This oversimplification ignores distinct etiologies, risks misdiagnosis, and perpetuates stigma by blaming patients for their conditions, contrary to scientific evidence.