AIIMS Delhi NO- 2019: Social skill training for Schizophrenia patient is done for which symptom?

AIIMS Delhi NO- 2019

Mental Health Nursing

Medium

Appeared in: AIIMS Delhi NO- 2019

Explanation

Social skills training (SST) is a behavioral therapy focused on improving interpersonal effectiveness, which is a core deficit in schizophrenia.
These deficits, such as social withdrawal, poor communication, and lack of motivation, are classified as negative symptoms.
SST uses techniques like role-playing, modeling, and positive reinforcement to teach patients how to manage social situations, thereby directly targeting and aiming to improve negative symptoms.
The goal is to enhance social competence, which includes skills in perceiving social cues, processing social information, and expressing oneself appropriately.

Option A: Positive signs, such as hallucinations and delusions, are symptoms that represent an excess or distortion of normal functions. These are primarily treated with antipsychotic medications, not behavioral skills training.
Option C: Hallucination is a specific type of positive symptom involving false sensory perceptions. While managing the distress from hallucinations is part of overall care, SST does not eliminate the hallucinations themselves.
Option D: Delusion is a specific type of positive symptom characterized by fixed, false beliefs. SST is not designed to challenge or alter these core beliefs; that is more in the realm of medication and specific psychotherapies like CBTp.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
Nurses play a crucial role in reinforcing the skills learned during SST sessions in daily interactions on the ward or in the community.
Observing a patient's ability to initiate conversation, maintain eye contact, and participate in group activities provides valuable data on the effectiveness of SST and the patient's progress.
Patient and family education is key. Nurses can explain that negative symptoms are part of the illness and not laziness, which helps reduce stigma and improve support.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the key concepts in the question: 'Social skill training' (the intervention) and 'Schizophrenia' (the condition).
Recall the major symptom categories of schizophrenia: positive and negative symptoms.
Define each category. Positive symptoms are an 'addition' of abnormal behaviors (like hallucinations). Negative symptoms are a 'deficit' or 'absence' of normal behaviors (like social withdrawal).
Analyze the intervention. 'Social skill training' implies teaching and building skills that are lacking.
Connect the intervention to the symptom category. Since SST aims to correct a deficit in social functioning, it directly corresponds to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Evaluate the options. Hallucination and Delusion are specific examples of positive symptoms, making them and the broader 'Positive sign' category incorrect.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) pp. 2492-2494, 1097-1099