DSSSB 13 August 2024
Mental Health Nursing
Easy
In which of the following conditions does the patient fill gaps in their memory by making fabrications?
Appeared in: DSSSB 13 August 2024
Explanation
- Confabulation is the correct term for when a patient fills gaps in their memory by making up stories or events.
- Crucially, this is an unconscious process; the patient genuinely believes the fabricated memories are real and is not intentionally trying to deceive.
- This symptom points towards an underlying organic brain issue, such as dementia or Korsakoff's syndrome, rather than a purely psychiatric thought process disorder.
- The key differentiator is that confabulation is a memory disorder, whereas the other options are primarily disorders of the thought process or form of speech.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: Flight of ideas is a disorder of thought process, not memory. It involves rapid, continuous speech with abrupt changes from one topic to another.
- Option B: Tangentiality is a disturbance in thought where the patient wanders off-topic and never returns to the original point. It doesn't involve filling memory gaps.
- Option C: Neologism is the creation of new, meaningless words. It is a disorder of language and speech, not memory.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Psychiatric Terminology: Memory and Thought Disorders to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
- Recognizing confabulation is a critical nursing assessment skill. It is a red flag for serious underlying organic brain disease, such as Korsakoff's syndrome, dementia, or brain injury.
- A nurse observing confabulation should document the specific instances and report them, as it necessitates further neurological and nutritional assessment (especially for thiamine deficiency).
- It's vital to differentiate confabulation from lying (malingering). Patients who confabulate are not being deceptive; they are trying to make sense of a world their damaged memory can no longer accurately represent. This understanding guides a compassionate, non-confrontational nursing approach.
How to Approach the Question
- First, break down the question's core components: the action is 'filling gaps in memory' and the method is 'making fabrications'.
- Next, evaluate each option based on its definition in psychiatric nursing.
- Recall that 'Flight of ideas' and 'Tangentiality' are disorders of the process or flow of thought, not memory content.
- Remember that 'Neologism' is a disorder of language (creating new words).
- This leaves 'Confabulation', which directly matches the definition of unconsciously fabricating stories to fill in memory gaps.
- Therefore, by a process of elimination and direct definition matching, confabulation is the only correct answer.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Psychiatric Terminology: Memory and Thought Disorders
- Stem keywords: fill gaps, memory, fabrications
- Lead-in keywords: In which of the following conditions
Question ID
QiTD54uOfGwUpoyZ04Ym5e
Reference Book
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 3306-3308, 3794-3796
E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 50-52
Practise the full DSSSB 13 August 2024
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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