BARKLEY PMHNP actual EXAM EXAM COVERAGE
Barkley PMHNP - Actual Exam Review
Psychiatric assessment & diagnostic criteria
(DSM-5-TR basics)
Differential diagnosis across lifespan (child,
adult, geriatric)
Mood disorders (MDD, bipolar I/II, cyclothymia)
Anxiety disorders (GAD, panic, OCD, PTSD)
Psychotic disorders (schizophrenia spectrum)
Substance use & withdrawal syndromes
Neurocognitive & neurodevelopmental
disorders
Personality disorders clusters A, B, C
Psychopharmacology fundamentals
Antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, MAOIs)
Mood stabilizers (lithium, valproate, lamotrigine)
Antipsychotics (typical & atypical)
Anxiolytics & sedative-hypnotics
ADHD medications & stimulants
Medication side effects, contraindications,
interactions
Psychotherapy modalities
CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing
Crisis intervention & brief therapy
Safety & risk management
Suicide risk assessment
,Homicide risk
Duty to warn/protect
Medical & psychiatric comorbidities
Lab monitoring & medication management
Ethics, scope of practice & prescriptive authority
Documentation & legal considerations
Cultural competence & patient-centered care
,Tony, a 16-year-old male, has been Borderline personality disorder is not
sent to your clinic for counseling. considered a differential diagnosis for conduct
He has a long record of skipping disorder, as indicated by the patient's truancy,
school, talking back to his teachers, defiance of authority figures, fights with family
and getting poor grades. His members, poor academic performance, sexual
parents say he has often gotten in promiscuity, running away from home, and
fights with them, has frequently "tough guy" demeanor. Oppositional defiant
been caught sneaking girls into his disorder, bipolar disorders, and adjustment
room, and has run away from home disorders are all considered potential differential
on two occasions. During the diagnoses for conduct disorder, as are
session, you notice Tony acts tough depressive disorders, attention-
and aloof, not deigning to speak deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and intermittent
much. If you suspect conduct explosive disorder.
disorder, which of the following
conditions would you be least
likely to include in your differential
diagnosis?
1. Borderline personality disorder
2. Oppositional defiant disorder
3. Adjustment disorder with
disturbance of conduct
4. Bipolar disorder
, Which of these lab findings would Depressive symptoms are associated with
be least expected in a patient with decreased, not increased, levels of somatostatin
depression? in cerebrospinal fluid. Patients with depression
1. Decreased nocturnal growth may exhibit a decreased thyroid-stimulating
hormone secretion hormone response to thyrotropin-releasing
2. Decreased thyroid-stimulating hormone, as well as hypersecretion of cortisol.
hormone response Depressive symptoms are also associated with
3. Increased somatostatin in irregularities in growth hormone release, such as
cerebrospinal fluid reduced nocturnal secretion and diurnal
4. Increased secretion of cortisol hypersecretion.
Barkley PMHNP - Actual Exam Review
Psychiatric assessment & diagnostic criteria
(DSM-5-TR basics)
Differential diagnosis across lifespan (child,
adult, geriatric)
Mood disorders (MDD, bipolar I/II, cyclothymia)
Anxiety disorders (GAD, panic, OCD, PTSD)
Psychotic disorders (schizophrenia spectrum)
Substance use & withdrawal syndromes
Neurocognitive & neurodevelopmental
disorders
Personality disorders clusters A, B, C
Psychopharmacology fundamentals
Antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, MAOIs)
Mood stabilizers (lithium, valproate, lamotrigine)
Antipsychotics (typical & atypical)
Anxiolytics & sedative-hypnotics
ADHD medications & stimulants
Medication side effects, contraindications,
interactions
Psychotherapy modalities
CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing
Crisis intervention & brief therapy
Safety & risk management
Suicide risk assessment
,Homicide risk
Duty to warn/protect
Medical & psychiatric comorbidities
Lab monitoring & medication management
Ethics, scope of practice & prescriptive authority
Documentation & legal considerations
Cultural competence & patient-centered care
,Tony, a 16-year-old male, has been Borderline personality disorder is not
sent to your clinic for counseling. considered a differential diagnosis for conduct
He has a long record of skipping disorder, as indicated by the patient's truancy,
school, talking back to his teachers, defiance of authority figures, fights with family
and getting poor grades. His members, poor academic performance, sexual
parents say he has often gotten in promiscuity, running away from home, and
fights with them, has frequently "tough guy" demeanor. Oppositional defiant
been caught sneaking girls into his disorder, bipolar disorders, and adjustment
room, and has run away from home disorders are all considered potential differential
on two occasions. During the diagnoses for conduct disorder, as are
session, you notice Tony acts tough depressive disorders, attention-
and aloof, not deigning to speak deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and intermittent
much. If you suspect conduct explosive disorder.
disorder, which of the following
conditions would you be least
likely to include in your differential
diagnosis?
1. Borderline personality disorder
2. Oppositional defiant disorder
3. Adjustment disorder with
disturbance of conduct
4. Bipolar disorder
, Which of these lab findings would Depressive symptoms are associated with
be least expected in a patient with decreased, not increased, levels of somatostatin
depression? in cerebrospinal fluid. Patients with depression
1. Decreased nocturnal growth may exhibit a decreased thyroid-stimulating
hormone secretion hormone response to thyrotropin-releasing
2. Decreased thyroid-stimulating hormone, as well as hypersecretion of cortisol.
hormone response Depressive symptoms are also associated with
3. Increased somatostatin in irregularities in growth hormone release, such as
cerebrospinal fluid reduced nocturnal secretion and diurnal
4. Increased secretion of cortisol hypersecretion.
