Which statement most clearly reflects the stigma of mental illness?
“Mental illness can be evidence of a brain disorder.”
“Many mental illnesses are a result of genetic predisposition.”
“Even children may have diagnosable mental health conditions.”
“Mental illness is a result of the breakdown of the American family.”
The Correct Answer is D
Choice A reason: Linking mental illness to brain disorders, like dopamine imbalances in schizophrenia, is factual and reduces stigma by emphasizing neurobiological causes. This aligns with scientific understanding, not perpetuating blame or stereotypes, making it an incorrect choice for reflecting stigma.
Choice B reason: Genetic predisposition, such as serotonin transporter gene variations, is a scientific explanation for mental illness. This reduces stigma by highlighting biological causes, not personal failings, aligning with evidence-based understanding and making it an incorrect choice for stigmatizing mental illness.
Choice C reason: Recognizing mental illness in children, like ADHD with dopamine deficits, normalizes early diagnosis and treatment. This factual statement reduces stigma by acknowledging neurobiological conditions across ages, making it an incorrect choice for reflecting stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness.
Choice D reason: Blaming mental illness on family breakdown ignores neurobiological causes, like serotonin or dopamine imbalances, and perpetuates stigma by implying personal or social failure. This judgmental view misrepresents scientific evidence, making it the correct choice for reflecting stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is A
Explanation
Choice A reason: Abruptly stopping fluoxetine, an SSRI, disrupts serotonin levels, causing discontinuation syndrome with symptoms like dizziness and irritability due to rapid neurotransmitter imbalance in the brain. Gradual tapering stabilizes serotonin, preventing withdrawal, making this critical teaching for safe medication management in anxiety treatment.
Choice B reason: Constipation is not a common side effect of fluoxetine, which primarily causes nausea or diarrhea via serotonin modulation. Anticholinergic drugs, not SSRIs, typically cause constipation. This teaching is inaccurate, as fluoxetine’s side effect profile does not emphasize gastrointestinal slowing, making it incorrect.
Choice C reason: Fluoxetine takes 4-8 weeks, not months, to reach efficacy by increasing serotonin in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Overstating the timeline discourages adherence, as patients expect faster relief from anxiety symptoms, making this teaching point scientifically inaccurate and misleading.
Choice D reason: Fluoxetine is not addictive, as it lacks the reinforcing GABA effects of benzodiazepines. It modulates serotonin for anxiety without dependence risk. This teaching is incorrect, as it misrepresents fluoxetine’s pharmacological profile, potentially causing unnecessary fear about its safe use in treatment.
Correct Answer is B
Explanation
Choice A reason: Minimizing suicide as drastic dismisses the patient’s emotional pain, linked to serotonin deficits and amygdala hyperactivity in depression. This lacks empathy, risking alienation and worsening despair, as it fails to acknowledge the neurobiological severity of suicidal ideation, making it inappropriate.
Choice B reason: Acknowledging intense upset validates the patient’s emotional state, reflecting serotonin-driven despair in suicide attempts. Empathy, engaging mirror neurons, fosters trust and reduces isolation, aligning with therapeutic principles to support neurobiological stabilization and emotional recovery in psychiatric care.
Choice C reason: Offering to solve problems focuses on solutions, not empathy. Suicidal ideation, tied to prefrontal cortex dysfunction, requires emotional validation first. This statement risks dismissing feelings, reducing therapeutic connection, and is less effective than acknowledging the patient’s emotional distress.
Choice D reason: Expressing personal sadness shifts focus to the nurse’s feelings, not the patient’s. Empathy requires reflecting the patient’s emotional state, like despair from serotonin imbalances, to build rapport. This statement, while sympathetic, is less empathic, making it incorrect for demonstrating true empathy.
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