CMN 552 ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE 2026
▶ draws connections between your mood and relationships to underlying
interpersonal issues. Answer: Interpersonal Therapy
▶ focuses on changing problematic behaviors, feelings, and thoughts by
discovering their unconscious meanings and motivations. Answer:
psychoanalysis therapy
▶ Name some signs of psychomotor agitation. Answer: emotional distress,
restlessness, tapping, starting and ending tasks abruptly, fidgeting, pacing,
hand-wringing, fast talking, racing thoughts, crowded thoughts, moving
objects for no reason
▶ set of behaviors that goes along with psychomotor agitation. Answer:
packing back and forth, taking off and on clothes, twisting their hands,
tapping feet on floor, tapping fingers on surface, picking up and moving
objects around a room for no reason
▶ most reliable somatic indicators of depressive disorder:. Answer:
anorexia and weight loss
▶ other somatic indicators of depressive disorder. Answer: blunted
olfactory or taste sensations, decreased enjoyment of food, dizziness,
lethargy, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, sweating, chills,
malaise, incoordination, insomnia, vivid dreams
▶ contraindications to ECT treatment. Answer: rheumatoid arthritis
complicated by erosion of the odontoid process, recent mi (must wait 8
weeks), increased intracranial pressure, recent intracerebral
hemorrhage/aneurysm or stroke (must wait 8 weeks), extremely loose
teeth, threatened retinal detachment, concurrent administration of an
irreversible MAOI (must be discontinued 14 days prior to elective
anesthesia), concurrent drug toxicity
, ▶ baseline labs recommended prior to treatment with Celexa?. Answer:
serum sodium at baseline and after 4 weeks
▶ antidepressant that can cause dose dependent cardiac irregularities.
Answer: Celexa or Tricyclics
▶ which SNRI is recommended for use in the treatment of panic and major
depression?. Answer: Venlafaxine (Effexor)
▶ Which antidepressant has the potential to cause a false amphetamine
lab result?. Answer: Bupropion (Wellbutrin)
▶ Least sedating SSRI?. Answer: Lexapro (Escitalopram)
▶ most likely SSRI to cause discontinuation syndrome?. Answer: Paxil
(Fluoxetine)
▶ which SNRI has fewest drug interactions?. Answer: Desvenlafaxine
(Pristiq)
▶ behavioral adverse effects in children taking SSRIs. Answer: agitation,
restlessness, activation, hypomania, insomnia, irritability, social
disinhibition
▶ why is slow upward titration recommended when prescribing
lamotrigine?. Answer: decrease risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and
toxic epidermal necrolysis
▶ gold standard for maintenance of treatment of bipolar disorder?.
Answer: lithium
▶ recommended serum lithium schedule?. Answer: first plasma 5 days
after starting, once weekly till levels therapeutic, 3-6 months and at clinical
discretion
▶ important education to patients on lithium. Answer: report any signs of
toxicity, requires regular blood monitoring for lithium renal and electrolytes,
maintain consistent salt and water intake, expect nausea thirst frequent
urination during first few days, give with meals to avoid GI disturbances,
caffeine intake should not be altered, withhold morning dose until after
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE 2026
▶ draws connections between your mood and relationships to underlying
interpersonal issues. Answer: Interpersonal Therapy
▶ focuses on changing problematic behaviors, feelings, and thoughts by
discovering their unconscious meanings and motivations. Answer:
psychoanalysis therapy
▶ Name some signs of psychomotor agitation. Answer: emotional distress,
restlessness, tapping, starting and ending tasks abruptly, fidgeting, pacing,
hand-wringing, fast talking, racing thoughts, crowded thoughts, moving
objects for no reason
▶ set of behaviors that goes along with psychomotor agitation. Answer:
packing back and forth, taking off and on clothes, twisting their hands,
tapping feet on floor, tapping fingers on surface, picking up and moving
objects around a room for no reason
▶ most reliable somatic indicators of depressive disorder:. Answer:
anorexia and weight loss
▶ other somatic indicators of depressive disorder. Answer: blunted
olfactory or taste sensations, decreased enjoyment of food, dizziness,
lethargy, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, sweating, chills,
malaise, incoordination, insomnia, vivid dreams
▶ contraindications to ECT treatment. Answer: rheumatoid arthritis
complicated by erosion of the odontoid process, recent mi (must wait 8
weeks), increased intracranial pressure, recent intracerebral
hemorrhage/aneurysm or stroke (must wait 8 weeks), extremely loose
teeth, threatened retinal detachment, concurrent administration of an
irreversible MAOI (must be discontinued 14 days prior to elective
anesthesia), concurrent drug toxicity
, ▶ baseline labs recommended prior to treatment with Celexa?. Answer:
serum sodium at baseline and after 4 weeks
▶ antidepressant that can cause dose dependent cardiac irregularities.
Answer: Celexa or Tricyclics
▶ which SNRI is recommended for use in the treatment of panic and major
depression?. Answer: Venlafaxine (Effexor)
▶ Which antidepressant has the potential to cause a false amphetamine
lab result?. Answer: Bupropion (Wellbutrin)
▶ Least sedating SSRI?. Answer: Lexapro (Escitalopram)
▶ most likely SSRI to cause discontinuation syndrome?. Answer: Paxil
(Fluoxetine)
▶ which SNRI has fewest drug interactions?. Answer: Desvenlafaxine
(Pristiq)
▶ behavioral adverse effects in children taking SSRIs. Answer: agitation,
restlessness, activation, hypomania, insomnia, irritability, social
disinhibition
▶ why is slow upward titration recommended when prescribing
lamotrigine?. Answer: decrease risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and
toxic epidermal necrolysis
▶ gold standard for maintenance of treatment of bipolar disorder?.
Answer: lithium
▶ recommended serum lithium schedule?. Answer: first plasma 5 days
after starting, once weekly till levels therapeutic, 3-6 months and at clinical
discretion
▶ important education to patients on lithium. Answer: report any signs of
toxicity, requires regular blood monitoring for lithium renal and electrolytes,
maintain consistent salt and water intake, expect nausea thirst frequent
urination during first few days, give with meals to avoid GI disturbances,
caffeine intake should not be altered, withhold morning dose until after
