Mental Health Nursing: PTSD, Trauma, and Anxiety Disorders

Practice flashcards covering key concepts from a mental health nursing lecture on trauma-related disorders, anxiety, OCD, and schizophrenia.

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) symptom

Recurring flashbacks or dreams, such as a veteran seeing wounded people reaching out in their sleep, which differentiates it from paranoia.

Prolonged exposure therapy

A therapeutic approach where a therapist helps a client safely and gradually face memories or situations related to trauma that evoke fear.

Propranolol

A beta-adrenergic antagonist used to treat performance-related social anxiety by reducing physical symptoms of anxiety.

Acute stress disorder

A short-term stress disorder that lasts less than one month following exposure to a trauma.

Trauma-informed care priority

Ensuring the safety of the client is always the priority nursing action.

First-line treatment for PTSD

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Zoloft and Lexapro.

Acutely traumatized agitated client care

Nursing actions include keeping hands where the client can see them, ensuring adequate personal space, and acknowledging the client's experience.

PTSD avoidance symptoms

Manifested by statements such as "I don't wanna think or talk about what happened with anybody."

Resistance phase (General Adaptation Syndrome)

The phase where a nurse or individual can perform duties during prolonged stress (weeks or months) without observable impairment.

Selective mutism

An anxiety disorder characterized by the inability to speak in specific social situations.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Excessive worry in response to a variety of circumstances that the client is unable to control.

Panic-level anxiety manifestations

Symptoms include depersonalization, voice tremors, and disorganized thinking.

Lorazepam education

Important information that the medication rapidly crosses the blood-brain barrier, affecting the central nervous system.

Norepinephrine

The neurotransmitter primarily responsible for heightened excitatory effects and the "fight or flight" response in anxiety.

Agoraphobia goal

A gradual, achievable exposure goal, such as sitting on a park bench for a few minutes each day.

Compulsive behaviors management

The nurse should plan the schedule to allow time for rituals and gradually reduce them rather than stopping them abruptly.

Purpose of compulsive behavior

To decrease anxiety to a tolerable level for the client with OCD.

OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) findings

Common behaviors include perfectionism, being rule-conscious, and having difficulty relaxing.

Compulsion vs. Obsession

A compulsion is the repetitive action or behavior (e.g., hand washing), whereas an obsession is the intrusive thought or fear (e.g., contamination).

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

A disorder characterized by a preoccupation with a perceived defect in physical appearance, such as feeling one's biceps are never big enough.

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Symptoms involving a lack of emotions, including alogia, avolition, and affective flattening.

Schizophrenia vs. Schizophreniform disorder

Schizophreniform disorder lasts between $1$ and $6$ months; if symptoms persist longer, the diagnosis becomes schizophrenia.

Tardive dyskinesia

A side effect of antipsychotics characterized by facial grimacing, eye blinking abnormalities, involuntary pelvic/hip/tongue thrusting, and lip smacking.

Associative looseness

Disorganized, incoherent speech where ideas jump from topic to topic without logical connection.

Command hallucinations intervention

The nurse should ask "What are the voices telling you to do?" to explore the content without validating the hallucination.

Clozapine monitoring

The medication should be held if the WBC (white blood cell count) is $2,900$ (normal range is $5,000 \text{ to } 10,000$), as this indicates agranulocytosis.

Cogentin (Benztropine) education

Clients should increase fluid and fiber intake to prevent constipation, which is a common anticholinergic side effect.

Flashback priority action

Staying with the client and assuring them that they are safe despite being frightened.