Comprehensive exams for Mental Health Q 106
A 75-year-old client has dementia of the Alzheimer’s type and confabulates. The nurse understands that this client:
A. Denies confusion by being jovial
B. Pretends to be someone else
C. Rationalizes various behaviors
D. Fills in memory gaps with fantasy
Correct Answer: D. Fills in memory gaps with fantasy
Confabulation is a communication device used by patients with dementia to compensate for memory gaps. Confabulation is a type of memory error in which gaps in a person’s memory are unconsciously filled with fabricated, misinterpreted, or distorted information. When someone confabulates, they are confusing things they have imagined with real memories. A person who is confabulating is not lying. They are not making a conscious or intentional attempt to deceive. Rather, they are confident in the truth of their memories even when confronted with contradictory evidence.The remaining answer choices are incorrect.
Option A: Dementia is a syndrome – usually of a chronic or progressive nature – in which there is deterioration in cognitive function (i.e. the ability to process thought) beyond what might be expected from normal aging. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgment. Consciousness is not affected. The impairment in cognitive function is commonly accompanied and occasionally preceded, by deterioration in emotional control, social behavior, or motivation.
Option B: Dementia results from a variety of diseases and injuries that primarily or secondarily affect the brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease or stroke. Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide. It can be overwhelming, not only for the people who have it, but also for their carers and families. There is often a lack of awareness and understanding of dementia, resulting in stigmatization and barriers to diagnosis and care. The impact of dementia on carers, family, and society at large can be physical, psychological, social, and economic.
Option C: Although age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia, it is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Further, dementia does not exclusively affect older people – young onset dementia (defined as the onset of symptoms before the age of 65 years) accounts for up to 9% of cases. Studies show that people can reduce their risk of dementia by getting regular exercise, not smoking, avoiding harmful use of alcohol, controlling their weight, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining healthy blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. Additional risk factors include depression, low educational attainment, social isolation, and cognitive inactivity.