Personality and Mood Disorders Q 108
Ralph is admitted to Nurseslabs Medical Center with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, a single manic episode. Which of the following behaviors would the nurse expect to assess?
A. Apathy, poor insight, and poverty of ideas.
B. Anxiety, somatic complaints, and insomnia.
C. Elation, hyperactivity, and impaired judgment.
D. Social isolation, delusional thinking, and clang associations.
Correct Answer: C. Elation, hyperactivity, and impaired judgment
A client with bipolar disorder, manic episode, would demonstrate flight of ideas and hyperactivity as part of the increased psychomotor activity. The mood is one of elation, and the feeling is that one is invincible; therefore, judgment may be quite impaired. The defining characteristics of mania are increased talkativeness, rapid speech, decreased the need for sleep (unlike depression or anxiety in which the need for sleep exists, but there is an inability to sleep), racing thoughts, distractibility, increase in goal-directed activity, and psychomotor agitation.
Option A: These symptoms would be more characteristic of an individual with long-term schizophrenia. Negative symptoms include anhedonia, poverty of speech, and lack of motivation. The diagnosis of schizophrenia is clinical; made exclusively after obtaining a full psychiatric history and excluding other causes of psychosis.
Option B: The symptoms are more characteristic of someone with an anxiety disorder, although a manic individual may also not sleep because of excessive energy. Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by persistent, excessive, and unrealistic worry about everyday things. This worry could be multifocal such as finance, family, health, and the future. It is excessive, difficult to control, and is often accompanied by many non-specific psychological and physical symptoms. Excessive worry is the central feature of generalized anxiety disorder.
Option D: These symptoms are characteristic of schizophrenia. Traditionally, symptoms have divided into two main categories: positive symptoms which include hallucinations, delusions, and formal thought disorders.