Pica in a child refers to:

Eating non-food substances persistently

Bringing food back up and rechewing it

Psychiatric disorders and their nursing care

45 Kerala PSC Staff Nurse Gr II practice questions on Psychiatric disorders and their nursing care, part of Mental Health Nursing. The first 25 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

Question 1 · Easy
The most common cause of dementia in the elderly is:
1. AAlzheimer disease
2. BLewy body dementia
3. CHypothyroidism
4. DVascular dementia
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Answer: A · Alzheimer disease
Alzheimer disease accounts for more than half of all dementia. It begins slowly with loss of recent memory and progresses to loss of language, judgment and self-care. Vascular dementia is the next most common. The nurse supports routine, safety and the family caregiver.
- B: Lewy body dementia is less common.
- C: Hypothyroidism is a reversible but uncommon cause.
- D: Vascular dementia is common but second to Alzheimer disease.
Question 2 · Easy
Schizophrenia was earlier called 'dementia praecox' by:
1. AEugen Bleuler
2. BEmil Kraepelin
3. CSigmund Freud
4. DKurt Schneider
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Answer: B · Emil Kraepelin
Kraepelin used the term dementia praecox for an illness beginning in youth with a deteriorating course. Bleuler later renamed it schizophrenia, meaning split mind, in 1911. Kraepelin also separated manic-depressive illness from it. His work laid the base of modern psychiatric classification.
- A: Bleuler introduced the name schizophrenia.
- C: Freud worked on neuroses and psychoanalysis.
- D: Schneider described first-rank symptoms.
Question 3 · Easy
Bed-wetting is labelled enuresis only if the child is at least:
1. A5 years old
2. B10 years old
3. C3 years old
4. D2 years old
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Answer: A · 5 years old
Most children gain night-time bladder control by four to five years. Enuresis is diagnosed when repeated wetting continues at age five or later. Management includes reassurance, fluid restriction in the evening, bladder training and enuresis alarms. Punishing the child only adds shame.
- B: Ten years is far past the diagnostic age.
- C: Many three-year-olds still wet the bed normally.
- D: Wetting at two is normal development.
Question 4 · Hard
A 20-year-old student cannot move both legs the morning after a quarrel with her father. Tone, reflexes and plantar responses are normal and she is calm about it. The likely diagnosis is:
1. AConversion disorder
2. BAcute catatonia
3. CMalingering
4. DGuillain-Barre syndrome
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Answer: A · Conversion disorder
Sudden loss of motor function after emotional conflict, with normal neurological signs, points to conversion disorder. Her calm attitude is la belle indifference. Guillain-Barre syndrome would reduce reflexes, and malingering means deliberately faking for an outside gain. The nurse attends to her needs without focusing on the paralysis and helps her express the conflict.
- B: Catatonia shows posturing and mutism, not isolated leg weakness.
- C: Malingering is conscious faking for a clear external reward, which is not described.
- D: Guillain-Barre syndrome causes lost or reduced reflexes.
Question 5 · Medium
Pica in a child refers to:
1. AEating only one colour of food
2. BRefusal to eat any food
3. CEating non-food substances persistently
4. DBringing food back up and rechewing it
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Answer: C · Eating non-food substances persistently
Pica is the persistent eating of non-nutritive substances such as mud, chalk, paint or paper for at least a month. It is linked with iron deficiency, intellectual disability and neglect. Risks include lead poisoning and worm infestation. The nurse checks haemoglobin and screens for lead exposure.
- A: Eating only certain foods is selective or avoidant eating.
- B: Refusal to eat may point to other feeding or eating disorders.
- D: Bringing food back and rechewing it is rumination disorder.
Question 6 · Easy
Waxy flexibility, in which a limb stays in any position it is placed, is seen in:
1. ACatatonic schizophrenia
2. BAcute mania
3. CConversion disorder
4. DGeneralised anxiety disorder
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Medium
Long-term heavy cannabis use is linked with an amotivational syndrome, marked by:
1. ASeizures on stopping
2. BSevere hypertension
3. CApathy and loss of drive
4. DPinpoint pupils and coma
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Medium
The first-line drug treatment for catatonia is:
1. ALorazepam
2. BFluoxetine
3. CHaloperidol
4. DLithium
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Question 9 · Medium
Lip smacking and tongue movements after several years of antipsychotic use point to:
1. AAcute dystonia
2. BAkathisia
3. CTardive dyskinesia
4. DDrug-induced parkinsonism
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Medium
A woman on lithium plans a pregnancy. The fetal heart defect linked with lithium in the first trimester is:
1. AEbstein anomaly
2. BCoarctation of aorta
3. CPatent ductus arteriosus
4. DTetralogy of Fallot
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Easy
The drug most widely used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children is:
1. AHaloperidol
2. BDiazepam
3. CMethylphenidate
4. DLithium
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Question 12 · Medium
Which drug reduces craving in alcohol dependence without causing a reaction if the patient drinks?
1. AThiamine
2. BAcamprosate
3. CDisulfiram
4. DChlordiazepoxide
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Hard
A man who drinks daily had his last drink 10 hours ago. He has tremors, sweating, nausea and a pulse of 104/min, but is fully oriented with no hallucinations. This stage is:
1. AWernicke encephalopathy
2. BAlcoholic hallucinosis
3. CSimple alcohol withdrawal
4. DDelirium tremens
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Medium
All of the following are features of a manic episode EXCEPT:
1. AGrandiosity
2. BPsychomotor retardation
3. CFlight of ideas
4. DDecreased need for sleep
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Medium
In OCD, the obsessions are described as ego-dystonic. This means the patient:
1. AFeels pleasure while having them
2. BSees them as senseless and resists them
3. CBelieves them to be fully true
4. DThinks they are inserted by others
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Question 16 · Easy
Which personality disorder belongs to Cluster A, the odd and eccentric group?
1. ASchizoid
2. BBorderline
3. CDependent
4. DAntisocial
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Question 17 · Easy
The minimum duration of a manic episode by DSM-5 is:
1. A1 week
2. B1 month
3. C2 weeks
4. D4 days
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Question 18 · Hard
Ten weeks after a bus accident, a driver has nightmares and flashbacks, startles at horns, avoids driving and cannot sleep. The most likely diagnosis is:
1. AAcute stress disorder
2. BPTSD
3. CGeneralised anxiety disorder
4. DSpecific phobia
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 19 · Easy
La belle indifference, a lack of concern about a disabling symptom, is typical of:
1. AConversion disorder
2. BHypochondriasis
3. CPanic disorder
4. DMajor depression
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 20 · Easy
A false, firmly held belief that is not shared by the person's culture and is not changed by reasoning is a:
1. AObsession
2. BHallucination
3. CIllusion
4. DDelusion
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Question 21 · Medium
On the Mini-Mental State Examination, which total suggests cognitive impairment?
1. ABelow 24 out of 30
2. BAbove 27 out of 30
3. CBelow 24 out of 50
4. DBelow 10 out of 100
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Question 22 · Hard
Using the SAD PERSONS scale (score 0-4 low, 5-6 moderate, 7-10 high risk), score a 52-year-old widower with depression and heavy drinking, a past overdose, no friends, and no plan or physical illness, who is thinking clearly. His score and risk are:
1. A8, high risk
2. B7, high risk
3. C6, moderate risk
4. D5, moderate risk
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Question 23 · Medium
In a patient with schizophrenia, alogia refers to:
1. ABlunted emotion
2. BPoverty of speech
3. CLack of pleasure
4. DLack of motivation
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Question 24 · Easy
Confabulation, filling memory gaps with made-up stories, is typical of:
1. AParanoid schizophrenia
2. BKorsakoff psychosis
3. CAlcoholic hallucinosis
4. DDelirium tremens
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 25 · Easy
Fine downy body hair called lanugo is a physical sign of:
1. ABulimia nervosa
2. BPica
3. CBinge-eating disorder
4. DAnorexia nervosa
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

20 more Psychiatric disorders and their nursing care questions

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Study Mental Health Nursing

Psychiatric disorders and their nursing care

The most common cause of dementia in the elderly is:

Schizophrenia was earlier called 'dementia praecox' by:

Bed-wetting is labelled enuresis only if the child is at least:

A 20-year-old student cannot move both legs the morning after a quarrel with her father. Tone, reflexes and plantar responses are normal and she is calm about it. The likely diagnosis is:

Pica in a child refers to:

Waxy flexibility, in which a limb stays in any position it is placed, is seen in:

Long-term heavy cannabis use is linked with an amotivational syndrome, marked by:

The first-line drug treatment for catatonia is:

Lip smacking and tongue movements after several years of antipsychotic use point to:

A woman on lithium plans a pregnancy. The fetal heart defect linked with lithium in the first trimester is:

The drug most widely used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children is:

Which drug reduces craving in alcohol dependence without causing a reaction if the patient drinks?

A man who drinks daily had his last drink 10 hours ago. He has tremors, sweating, nausea and a pulse of 104/min, but is fully oriented with no hallucinations. This stage is:

All of the following are features of a manic episode EXCEPT:

In OCD, the obsessions are described as ego-dystonic. This means the patient:

Which personality disorder belongs to Cluster A, the odd and eccentric group?

The minimum duration of a manic episode by DSM-5 is:

Ten weeks after a bus accident, a driver has nightmares and flashbacks, startles at horns, avoids driving and cannot sleep. The most likely diagnosis is:

La belle indifference, a lack of concern about a disabling symptom, is typical of:

A false, firmly held belief that is not shared by the person's culture and is not changed by reasoning is a:

On the Mini-Mental State Examination, which total suggests cognitive impairment?

Using the SAD PERSONS scale (score 0-4 low, 5-6 moderate, 7-10 high risk), score a 52-year-old widower with depression and heavy drinking, a past overdose, no friends, and no plan or physical illness, who is thinking clearly. His score and risk are:

In a patient with schizophrenia, alogia refers to:

Confabulation, filling memory gaps with made-up stories, is typical of:

Fine downy body hair called lanugo is a physical sign of: