Question

While assessing a client in an outpatient facility with a panic disorder, the nurse completes a thorough health history and physical exam. Which finding is most significantfor this client?

A) Compulsive behavior
B) Sense of impending doom
C) Fear of flying
D) Predictable episodes

Answer 1

The most significant finding for a client with panic disorder is the sense of impending doom, which aligns with the pattern of overwhelming fear seen in panic attacks and is central to the symptoms of panic disorder.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question concerns a clinical scenario in which a nurse assesses a client with panic disorder. Among the findings mentioned, the sense of impending doom is the most significant for this client. Panic disorder is characterized by sudden periods of intense fear that may include palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, numbness, or a feeling that something bad is going to happen, which is often described as a sense of impending doom.

Compulsive behavior is more commonly associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), fear of flying might be a specific phobia or related to agoraphobia, and predictable episodes could suggest other forms of anxiety or episodic disorders. In the context of panic disorder, the unexpected and overwhelming fear that encompasses a sense of impending doom aligns closest with the clinical presentation described in the research by Kessler et al. (2006) on panic disorder epidemiology.