Levels of Anxiety
This level of anxiety enhances perception, increases motivation, and improves problem-solving ability.
What is mild anxiety?
This disorder is characterized by excessive worry occurring more days than not for at least six months.
What is generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?
This defense mechanism involves unconsciously pushing painful thoughts out of awareness.
What is repression?
The first priority when treating a patient with severe to panic-level anxiety.
What is ensuring safety?
This type of therapy focuses on changing maladaptive thoughts to alter emotional responses.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)?
This anxiety disorder develops after exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
This level of anxiety is characterized by tunnel vision, selective attention, and physical symptoms like increased heart rate and tremors.
What is moderate anxiety?
Individuals with this phobia experience intense fear of social scrutiny or embarrassment.
What is social anxiety disorder?
A person refusing to accept the reality of a distressing event is using this defense mechanism.
What is denial?
A key nursing intervention for mild to moderate anxiety that involves helping the patient express feelings.
What is active listening?
This class of medication is considered the first-line pharmacological treatment for anxiety disorders.
What are SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors)?
A key symptom of PTSD, these are intrusive recollections of a traumatic event.
What are flashbacks?
This level of anxiety includes distorted perceptions, confusion, hyperventilation, and the inability to take direction.
What is severe anxiety?
This anxiety disorder involves persistent fear of being in situations where escape may be difficult.
What is agoraphobia?
This mechanism occurs when someone redirects emotions from their original source to a safer target.
What is displacement?
The best method to communicate with a patient experiencing severe anxiety or a panic attack.
What is using short, firm, simple statements?
This non-benzodiazepine medication is used for anxiety but does not cause sedation or dependence.
What is buspirone?
This disorder is characterized by two or more distinct personality states and memory gaps.
What is dissociative identity disorder (DID)?
This is the most intense level of anxiety, characterized by the loss of touch with reality, extreme terror, and the inability to communicate.
What is panic level anxiety?
This disorder is marked by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks followed by at least one month of concern about future attacks.
What is panic disorder?
A child regressing to sucking their thumb after a stressful event is an example of this defense mechanism.
What is regression?
This intervention involves helping patients remain focused on their immediate surroundings during an anxiety episode.
What is grounding?
This fast-acting class of medications is used for acute anxiety but has a high potential for dependence.
What are benzodiazepines?
A person experiencing detachment from themselves or their surroundings is showing symptoms of this disorder.
What is depersonalization/derealization disorder?
The term is used to describe when a person in panic-level anxiety feels a sense of impending doom.
What is catastrophic thinking?
This type of therapy involves exposing a person gradually to their feared object or situation.
What is systematic desensitization?
When a person expresses the opposite of what they actually feel, they are using this defense mechanism.
What is reaction formation?
The last resort intervention for severe anxiety when a patient poses a risk to themselves or others.
What are medications or restraints?
This therapy exposes a patient to their worst fear in a controlled setting to rapidly extinguish anxiety.
What is flooding?
This term describes a lack of emotional response to symptoms of conversion disorder.
What is la belle indifference?