Anxiety Disorders and Stress Q 11

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Nurse Gina understands that her client Glenda who is bulimic feels shame and guilt over binge eating and purging. This disorder is therefore considered:

  

     A. Ego-distorting

     B. Ego-dystonic

     C. Ego-enhancing

     D. Ego-syntonic

    

    

Correct Answer: B. Ego-dystonic

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An ego-dystonic disorder is one in which the client views behaviors or symptoms as incongruent with self-image and therefore feels guilt, shame, and distress about the symptoms. Ego-dystonic refers to thoughts, impulses, and behaviors that are felt to be repugnant, distressing, unacceptable or inconsistent with one’s self-concept.

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Option A: To say that the ego is distorted is simply to say that the mental apparatus is in a state of disordered function, and we cannot pursue this matter fruitfully unless we know exactly what part or layer of the ego is distorted and how and when and why, and with what other psychic reactions the ego-distortion is associated.

Option C: Ego enhancement has been offered as the psychological mechanism that drives differences in judgments about effects on self and others. Findings indicate that although ego enhancement does not appear to directly influence either third-person perception or its relationship to support for government control, it does play a moderating role in regulating the relationship between perceived effects and support for controls, especially in the case of perceived effects on others.

Option D: An ego-syntonic disorder is one which the client views behaviors as congruent with her self-image (as in anorexia nervosa). Ego-syntonic refers to instincts or ideas that are acceptable to the self; that are compatible with one’s values and ways of thinking. They are consistent with one’s fundamental personality and beliefs.

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