A 34-year-old man has felt persistently sad and empty for the past three weeks. He has lost interest in hobbies he previously enjoyed, is sleeping 11 hours a day, has difficulty concentrating at work, and reports feeling worthless.
Which of the following diagnoses is most consistent with his presentation?
Major depressive disorder
Bipolar I disorder
Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
Generalised anxiety disorder
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A psychiatrist is evaluating a patient who reports hearing voices that comment on his actions throughout the day. The patient also believes that news anchors on television are sending him coded personal messages.
Which of the following best describes these symptoms in terms of the classification of schizophrenia symptoms?
Negative symptoms, because they represent a diminishment of normal functioning
Positive symptoms, because they represent experiences added to normal functioning
Dissociative symptoms, because the patient has lost contact with a shared sense of reality
Mood symptoms, because the experiences are causing the patient significant distress
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A psychiatrist is evaluating a 28-year-old patient who, for the past week, has slept only three hours per night, describes herself as having "limitless energy," has made several impulsive large purchases, and has been speaking so rapidly that friends struggle to follow her. Two months ago, the same patient experienced a four-week episode of severe depression.
Which of the following diagnoses is most consistent with this presentation?
Major depressive disorder
Persistent depressive disorder
Bipolar I disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
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A man spends up to two hours each morning checking and rechecking that his front door is locked, even though he has already verified it is locked multiple times. He recognizes that his behavior is excessive and unreasonable but feels unable to stop.
Which of the following best describes his presentation?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
Somatic symptom disorder
Specific phobia
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A clinical psychologist assessed eight patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before and after a 12-week course of trauma-focused therapy. Symptom severity was measured using a validated 80-point scale at the start and end of treatment, where higher scores indicate more severe symptoms.
The data are shown in the table below. The psychologist did not use a control group or randomly assign patients to conditions.
Patient | Pre-therapy score | Post-therapy score |
|---|---|---|
1 | 61 | 42 |
2 | 55 | 38 |
3 | 53 | 44 |
4 | 49 | 31 |
5 | 44 | 28 |
6 | 42 | 35 |
7 | 38 | 22 |
8 | 38 | 19 |
Which of the following most accurately describes what is required for a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to the DSM-5?
The individual must have experienced the traumatic event directly and personally
Symptoms must persist for at least two years following the traumatic event before a diagnosis can be made
A PTSD diagnosis requires the presence of psychotic features, including hallucinations or delusions related to the traumatic event
The individual must have been exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, either directly or indirectly
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