Which symptom involves repeated, ritualized actions to reduce anxiety?

Study for the Primary Clinical Skills- Intro to Mental Status Test. Enhance your knowledge with flashcards and multiple choice questions, each with detailed explanations. Get ready for your exam with confidence!

Multiple Choice

Which symptom involves repeated, ritualized actions to reduce anxiety?

Explanation:
Repeated, ritualized actions to reduce anxiety are compulsions. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, intrusive thoughts or obsessions trigger these repetitive behaviors or mental acts, which people perform to neutralize distress or prevent a feared outcome. The relief from a compulsion is usually short-lived, and the cycle can become time-consuming and distressing. Phobias involve intense fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation, not ritual acts. Delusions are fixed false beliefs, and illusions are misperceptions of real stimuli. So the described symptom best fits compulsions because of their ritual, anxiety-reducing nature.

Repeated, ritualized actions to reduce anxiety are compulsions. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, intrusive thoughts or obsessions trigger these repetitive behaviors or mental acts, which people perform to neutralize distress or prevent a feared outcome. The relief from a compulsion is usually short-lived, and the cycle can become time-consuming and distressing. Phobias involve intense fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation, not ritual acts. Delusions are fixed false beliefs, and illusions are misperceptions of real stimuli. So the described symptom best fits compulsions because of their ritual, anxiety-reducing nature.

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