What is waxy flexibility in psychiatric patients?

Choice A reason: Expressing empathy, such as acknowledging the difficulty of the loss, fosters a therapeutic connection. It validates the patient’s emotions, encouraging open expression of grief, which is essential for processing loss and aligns with therapeutic communication principles, making this choice therapeutic.

Choice B reason: Asking the patient to elaborate on their feelings is a therapeutic open-ended question. It promotes exploration of emotions, facilitating grief processing by engaging the patient’s prefrontal cortex in reflecting on their experience, making this a therapeutic response and incorrect for the question.

Choice C reason: Saying “You’ll feel better soon” minimizes the patient’s grief, dismissing their current emotional state. This nontherapeutic response can inhibit emotional expression, as it implies a timeline for grief recovery, potentially disrupting the patient’s natural mourning process, making this the correct choice.

Choice D reason: Offering support and encouraging discussion is therapeutic, as it builds trust and validates the patient’s experience. This response engages the patient in processing grief, supporting emotional regulation through empathetic communication, making it a therapeutic response and incorrect for the question.

Choice A reason: Bargaining involves negotiating to alter the outcome, such as promising behavior changes to avoid loss. The patient’s rejection of the diagnosis reflects disbelief, not negotiation, aligning with denial, not bargaining, making this choice incorrect.

Choice B reason: Denial, the first stage of grief, involves refusing to accept a painful reality, like a terminal diagnosis. The patient’s insistence on another opinion reflects disbelief, a protective mechanism to avoid emotional distress, making this the correct choice.

Choice C reason: Anger involves frustration or resentment, often directed at others, like blaming the doctor. The patient’s statement focuses on disbelief, not hostility, aligning with denial rather than anger, making this choice incorrect for the described stage.

Choice D reason: Depression in grief involves sadness and despair over the loss. The patient’s rejection of the diagnosis indicates denial, not acceptance of the reality leading to sadness, making this choice incorrect for the current stage of grief.