Which scenario best demonstrates an example of eustress?

After many years of marital conflict, a couple have filed for divorce.

A man receives notification that his employer is experiencing financial problems and he may be terminated.

A couple receives a bank notice there were insufficient funds in their account for a recent rent payment.

An older man is learning new skills to prepare for his promotion to a supervisory role.

Answer and Explanation

The Correct Answer is D

Choice A reason: Divorce represents distress, not eustress, as it triggers negative emotional responses via heightened cortisol and amygdala activity, disrupting serotonin and dopamine balance. This chronic stress impairs prefrontal cortex function, leading to emotional dysregulation, unlike eustress, which promotes positive motivation and growth.

Choice B reason: Job loss threat is distress, activating the HPA axis to release cortisol, increasing amygdala-driven anxiety. This disrupts serotonin signaling, impairing mood regulation, and does not foster positive motivation or growth, unlike eustress, which involves beneficial stress enhancing performance without overwhelming neural systems.

Choice C reason: Financial strain is distress, elevating cortisol via HPA axis activation, increasing amygdala activity, and reducing prefrontal control, leading to anxiety. Unlike eustress, which promotes motivation through manageable challenges, this scenario causes negative emotional responses, disrupting serotonin and dopamine balance, impairing coping mechanisms.

Choice D reason: Learning new skills for a promotion is eustress, activating moderate HPA axis responses and dopamine release in the reward system, enhancing motivation and prefrontal cortex function. This positive stress promotes neuroplasticity, improving cognitive adaptability and emotional resilience, unlike distress, which overwhelms neural regulatory systems.

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Correct Answer is C

Explanation

Choice A reason: Exploring past interests is therapeutic but does not directly address the immediate suicide risk implied by hopelessness. Depression’s serotonin deficit heightens amygdala-driven despair, and assessing suicidal ideation is critical to prioritize safety over general exploration of interests.

Choice B reason: Reassuring the patient about reasons to live is dismissive and risks alienating them. Hopelessness in depression reflects serotonin and prefrontal cortex dysregulation, and this response fails to assess suicide risk, missing critical amygdala-driven warning signs.

Choice C reason: Asking about suicidal thoughts directly assesses risk, critical in depression with low serotonin and heightened amygdala activity driving hopelessness. This prioritizes safety, engaging prefrontal cortex reflection to identify immediate danger and guide intervention, making it the most appropriate response.

Choice D reason: Encouraging hope is vague and does not assess suicide risk. Depression’s serotonin deficit and amygdala hyperactivity require direct evaluation of suicidal ideation, as hopelessness signals potential danger, making this response inadequate for ensuring patient safety.

A. High risk for self-directed violence. B. Chronic low self-esteem. C. Childhood trauma and abuse. D. Poor impulse control.

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

Choice A reason: Self-directed violence is a risk in dissociative identity disorder but is a consequence, not the cause, of identity disruption. Trauma-induced changes in amygdala-hippocampal connectivity drive dissociation, not violence, which arises from emotional dysregulation secondary to fragmented identity states.

Choice B reason: Chronic low self-esteem may co-occur in dissociative identity disorder but is not the primary cause. Identity disruption stems from trauma-induced neural changes, particularly in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, leading to fragmented self-states, not primarily from self-esteem deficits.

Choice C reason: Childhood trauma and abuse are the primary causes of dissociative identity disorder, disrupting neural integration in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus via chronic cortisol elevation. This fragments identity formation, creating distinct personality states as a coping mechanism for overwhelming stress.

Choice D reason: Poor impulse control is a symptom in some dissociative identity disorder cases but not the cause. Identity disruption results from trauma-induced amygdala hyperactivity and hippocampal dysfunction, leading to dissociated states, not primarily from impulsivity, which is a secondary behavioral outcome.

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Which scenario best demonstrates an example of eustress?

Nursing Test Bank

Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams

The most appropriate response by the nurse when a despondent patient says "Nothing matters anymore" would be:

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

A client is suspected to have dissociative identity disorder. Which characteristic does the nurse identify that the disturbed personal identity is most likely related to?

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are used to treat which of the following?

A client with bipolar disorder has advanced lithium toxicity with a lithium level of 1.7 mEq/L. Which symptom would the nurse expect to assess?

A client is brought to the emergency department after exhibiting vital sign instability, diaphoresis, shivering, incoordination, hyperreflexia, hyperpyrexia, and diarrhea. The client is taking paroxetine (Paxil) for depression. Which condition should the nurse most likely suspect?

A nurse is conducting a visit to a client who is receiving palliative care at home for dying. The client’s husband tells the nurse, "I know she needs to be with God. That is the best place for her now." The client is experiencing which stage of Kubler-Ross’ stages of grieving?

A client on an inpatient psychiatric unit yells "My roommate is Satan's crafty minion" and attempts to strangle him. The patient is refusing redirection. What medication should the nurse expect the on-call provider to order?

Which health care worker should be referred to critical incident stress debriefing?

A troubled adolescent pulled out a gun in a school cafeteria, fatally shot three people, and injured many others. Hundreds of parents come to the school after hearing news reports. After police arrest the shooter, which action should occur next?