Comprehensive exams for Mental Health Q 98

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During the assessment stage, a client with schizophrenia leaves his arm in the air after the nurse has taken his blood pressure. His action shows evidence of:

  

     A. Somatic delusions

     B. Waxy flexibility

     C. Neologisms

     D. Nihilistic delusions

    

    

Correct Answer: B. Waxy flexibility

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The correct answer is waxy flexibility, which is defined as retaining any position that the body has been placed in. Waxy flexibility is a psychomotor symptom of catatonia as associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or other mental disorders which leads to a decreased response to stimuli and a tendency to remain in an immobile posture. Attempts to reposition the patient are met by “slight, even resistance”, and after being repositioned, the patient will typically remain in the new position.

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Option A: Somatic delusions involve a false belief about the functioning of the body. Of the delusional symptoms, somatic delusions-those that pertain to the body-are rather rare. Somatic delusions are defined as fixed false beliefs that one’s bodily function or appearance is grossly abnormal. They are a poorly understood psychiatric symptom and pose a significant clinical challenge to clinicians.

Option C: Neologisms are invented meaningless words. In a neurological or psychopathological context, neologisms, whose origins and meanings are usually nonsensical and unrecognizable (e.g., klipno for watch), are typically associated with aphasia or schizophrenia.

Option D: Nihilistic delusions are false ideas about self, others, or the world. Nihilistic delusions, also known as délires de négation, are specific psychopathological entities characterized by the delusional belief of being dead, decomposed, or annihilated, having lost one’s own internal organs or even not existing entirely as a human being.

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