Practice Test Geeks(MCCQE) Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Practice Test
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Common Psychiatric Disorders Flashcards

7 cards from real MCCQE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Common Psychiatric Disorders flashcards as text

  1. A 40-year-old man presents with persistent worry about multiple life domains, muscle tension, irritability, and sleep disturbance for more than 6 months. What is the first-line psychotherapy?

    Answer: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

    CBT is the most evidence-based psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder, targeting maladaptive worry and avoidance behaviours.

  2. A 55-year-old woman on phenelzine for depression eats aged cheese and develops severe hypertensive crisis. What is the mechanism?

    Answer: Tyramine-induced norepinephrine surge due to MAO inhibition

    MAO inhibitors block tyramine breakdown; dietary tyramine triggers massive norepinephrine release from sympathetic terminals, causing hypertensive crisis.

  3. A 27-year-old woman presents after an argument with her partner. She describes intense fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, impulsive self-harm, and chronic feelings of emptiness. What is the most likely diagnosis?

    Answer: Borderline personality disorder

    Borderline personality disorder is characterized by fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, impulsivity, self-harm, and chronic emptiness.

  4. A 70-year-old man with no prior psychiatric history develops visual hallucinations, fluctuating cognition, and REM sleep behaviour disorder. Parkinsonism follows 6 months later. What is the most likely diagnosis?

    Answer: Dementia with Lewy bodies

    Dementia with Lewy bodies classically presents with visual hallucinations, fluctuating cognition, REM sleep behaviour disorder, and parkinsonism.

  5. A 30-year-old man with alcohol use disorder has his last drink 48 hours ago. He now presents with agitation, tremor, diaphoresis, tachycardia, and a witnessed tonic-clonic seizure. What is the most appropriate immediate treatment?

    Answer: IV lorazepam

    IV benzodiazepines (e.g., lorazepam, diazepam) are first-line treatment for alcohol withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens by enhancing GABA-A activity.

  6. A 16-year-old girl is brought in by her parents due to refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and distorted body image. Her BMI is 15.5. What medical complication is most life-threatening?

    Answer: Cardiac arrhythmias from electrolyte imbalance

    Cardiac arrhythmias due to electrolyte disturbances (especially hypokalemia and hypophosphatemia) are the leading cause of death in anorexia nervosa.

  7. A patient with schizophrenia on long-term haloperidol develops repetitive lip-smacking movements and tongue protrusion that persist after medication dose reduction. What is this condition?

    Answer: Tardive dyskinesia

    Tardive dyskinesia is a late-onset, potentially irreversible movement disorder caused by dopamine receptor supersensitivity from chronic antipsychotic use.