Psychiatric Sample Questions

A patient presents to an inpatient psychiatric unit expressing a desire to stop drinking and appears anxious and trembling. The patient reports consuming 4200 mL of beer and 750 mL of bourbon every day for the past 2 weeks. The last drink was taken 12 hours ago. Laboratory values are normal except for the AST 180 units/L and the ALT 280 units/L. Which of the following is the appropriate initial treatment for this patient?

Which is an accurate statement regarding the use of fluoxetine in patients with borderline personality disorder?

A 7-year-old child with separation anxiety disorder has partially responded to the Coping Cat cognitive behavioral therapy program. Which oral medications should be added?

A 62-year-old patient with prostatic hypertrophy and multi-infarct dementia becomes disoriented and agitated, with apparent auditory hallucinations. Clozapine 25 mg by mouth twice daily is ordered, and two doses are administered within 12 hours. The next morning, the patient falls upon arising, has BP = 100/50 mm Hg, and reports urinary hesitancy. What is the MOST LIKELY cause of this reaction to clozapine?

Which baseline monitoring parameter is recommended for patients who are initiated on atypical antipsychotic medications?

Remission in clinical trials for major depressive disorder is defined as:

A study of the effects of paroxetine on serum sodium revealed that in a group of five healthy volunteers, the mean serum sodium concentration was 140 mmol/L before treatment and 138 mmol/L after treatment with paroxetine. The results of a paired Student's t test revealed that the serum sodium concentrations before and after treatment were not significantly different (p = 0.15). What conclusion may be drawn from the results of this experiment?

Genetic testing for HLA-B*1502 allele to reduce the risk of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome in persons with Asian ancestry has been established and is recommended for which of the following?

Wich supplement is MOST LIKLEY to cause a manic episode?

What is an accurate statement regarding suicide and antidepressant medications?

When are research protocols that involve procedures with more than minimal risk acceptable to perform on children?

What is an accurate description of the National Alliance on Mental Illness?

A psychiatric pharmacist who is reviewing dispensing errors notes that, in 10 incidents over the past 3 months, levofloxacin 500 mg and levetiracetam 500 mg have been confused for each other. Pharmacist A was responsible for seven of the errors, Pharmacist B for two, and Pharmacist C for one. Which of the following is the best recommendation for the future?