Psychiatry flashcards for NEET PG

80 cards. Read the question, answer in your head, then check. For spaced repetition, study the deck in the app.

What this deck is for

These 80 cards pick out single facts in Psychiatry that the exam keeps returning to: Anxiety and related disorders, Psychopharmacology, Psychotic disorders, Substance use, Treatment methods, Emergencies and more. Learn each diagnosis by its core features and its first-line treatment. Cards are a starting set, not full coverage of the subject; the study guide lists the full map.

Where students slip in Psychiatry: Confusing symptoms of mania with those of schizophrenia. Read the Psychiatry study guide.

  1. 1 · Anxiety and related disorders

    First-line treatment for OCD?

    Show the answer

    SSRIs at higher doses for longer, plus exposure and response prevention.

    Memory hook: Clomipramine is the alternative.

  2. 2 · Psychopharmacology

    Teratogenic risks of lithium, valproate and thalidomide?

    Show the answer

    Lithium: Ebstein's anomaly. Valproate: neural tube defects. Thalidomide: phocomelia.

    Memory hook: Lithium narrows the heart valve.

  3. 3 · Psychotic disorders

    Which are the Schneiderian first-rank symptoms?

    Show the answer

    Thought insertion, withdrawal, broadcasting, passivity, delusional perception, certain auditory hallucinations.

    Memory hook: Not flight of ideas; that's mania.

  4. 4 · Substance use

    Treatment of delirium tremens?

    Show the answer

    Benzodiazepines plus thiamine; supportive care.

    Memory hook: Antipsychotics alone lower seizure threshold.

  5. 5 · Treatment methods

    Main indications for ECT?

    Show the answer

    Severe or psychotic depression, high suicide risk, catatonia, drug-resistant mania.

    Memory hook: Quick-acting.

  6. 6 · Psychopharmacology

    How do benzodiazepines act?

    Show the answer

    They increase the frequency of chloride channel opening at the GABA-A receptor.

    Memory hook: Barbiturates increase duration instead.

  7. 7 · Emergencies

    What are the features of neuroleptic malignant syndrome?

    Show the answer

    Fever, severe rigidity, autonomic instability and raised creatine kinase after an antipsychotic; treat with stopping the drug, cooling, and dantrolene or bromocriptine.

    Memory hook: Slow onset over days.

  8. 8 · Emergencies

    What are the features of serotonin syndrome?

    Show the answer

    Agitation, clonus, hyperreflexia, hyperthermia and diarrhoea after serotonergic drugs.

    Memory hook: Fast onset, with clonus.

  9. 9 · Defence mechanisms

    What is projection?

    Show the answer

    Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else.

    Memory hook: 'I'm not angry, you are.'

  10. 10 · Anxiety disorders

    What is first-line treatment for panic disorder?

    Show the answer

    SSRIs and cognitive behavioural therapy.

    Memory hook: Benzodiazepines only briefly.

  11. 11 · Psychotic disorders

    What is a delusion?

    Show the answer

    A fixed, false belief, held with conviction, that is out of keeping with the person's culture and not shaken by evidence.

    Memory hook: Fixed and false.

  12. 12 · Psychotic disorders

    What is an hallucination?

    Show the answer

    A perception without an external stimulus, experienced as real.

    Memory hook: Illusion has a real stimulus; hallucination has none.

  13. 13 · Psychotic disorders

    Which hallucination type is commonest in schizophrenia?

    Show the answer

    Auditory, usually voices.

    Memory hook: Voices, not visions.

  14. 14 · Psychotic disorders

    Which hallucinations suggest an organic cause more than schizophrenia?

    Show the answer

    Visual, tactile and olfactory hallucinations.

    Memory hook: Think delirium or temporal lobe lesions.

  15. 15 · Psychotic disorders

    What is Capgras syndrome?

    Show the answer

    A delusion that a close person has been replaced by an identical impostor.

    Memory hook: Capgras: impostor.

  16. 16 · Psychotic disorders

    What is de Clerambault syndrome?

    Show the answer

    Erotomania: the delusion that another person, often of higher status, is in love with the patient.

    Memory hook: Clerambault: love.

  17. 17 · Psychotic disorders

    What is the dopamine pathway implicated in positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

    Show the answer

    Mesolimbic pathway (hyperactivity).

    Memory hook: Mesolimbic: positive symptoms.

  18. 18 · Psychotic disorders

    Which dopamine pathway underlies antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinaemia?

    Show the answer

    The tuberoinfundibular pathway, where dopamine normally inhibits prolactin.

    Memory hook: D2 block removes the brake on prolactin.

  19. 19 · Psychotic disorders

    What is the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia roughly worldwide?

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    About 1 percent.

    Memory hook: One in a hundred.

  20. 20 · Psychotic disorders

    Which type of schizophrenia features rigidity, stupor, posturing and waxy flexibility?

    Show the answer

    Catatonic schizophrenia (catatonia).

    Memory hook: Lorazepam challenge helps.

  21. 21 · Mood disorders

    What is the minimum duration of a manic episode with no hospitalisation, in ICD-10?

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    At least one week of elevated mood with increased energy.

    Memory hook: Hypomania is shorter and milder.

  22. 22 · Mood disorders

    How does hypomania differ from mania?

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    Hypomania has no psychotic symptoms and no marked functional impairment or need for admission.

    Memory hook: Bipolar II needs hypomania plus depression.

  23. 23 · Mood disorders

    What is the first-line mood stabiliser for classic bipolar disorder?

    Show the answer

    Lithium.

    Memory hook: Narrow therapeutic index.

  24. 24 · Mood disorders

    What is cyclothymia?

    Show the answer

    Chronic fluctuating mood with many mild hypomanic and depressive periods that do not meet criteria for full episodes.

    Memory hook: Mild but persistent.

  25. 25 · Mood disorders

    What is dysthymia (persistent depressive disorder)?

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    Chronic low mood lasting at least two years, milder than a major depressive episode.

    Memory hook: Two years.

  26. 26 · Mood disorders

    Which type of depression shows reversed vegetative signs: hypersomnia, hyperphagia and leaden paralysis?

    Show the answer

    Atypical depression.

    Memory hook: Mood reactivity is preserved.

  27. 27 · Mood disorders

    Which drug class was traditionally preferred for atypical depression?

    Show the answer

    MAO inhibitors.

    Memory hook: Atypical goes with MAOIs.

  28. 28 · Mood disorders

    What is postpartum blues and how long does it last?

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    Transient tearfulness and mood lability in the first days after delivery, resolving within about two weeks without treatment.

    Memory hook: Reassure only.

  29. 29 · Mood disorders

    Which brain monoamines are reduced in depression, per the monoamine hypothesis?

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    Serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine.

    Memory hook: Antidepressants raise their synaptic levels.

  30. 30 · Mood disorders

    What is the most important risk factor for completed suicide?

    Show the answer

    A previous suicide attempt.

    Memory hook: Past attempt predicts the next.

  31. 31 · Anxiety and related disorders

    What duration of symptoms defines generalised anxiety disorder in ICD and DSM?

    Show the answer

    Persistent excessive worry on most days for at least six months in DSM; several months in ICD-10.

    Memory hook: Free-floating anxiety.

  32. 32 · Anxiety and related disorders

    Which drug is first line for generalised anxiety disorder?

    Show the answer

    An SSRI or SNRI.

    Memory hook: Not long-term benzodiazepines.

  33. 33 · Anxiety and related disorders

    What is the treatment of choice for specific phobia?

    Show the answer

    Exposure therapy, such as systematic desensitisation.

    Memory hook: Graded exposure.

  34. 34 · Anxiety and related disorders

    What is agoraphobia?

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    Fear of places or situations from which escape may be difficult, such as crowds or open spaces.

    Memory hook: Fear of escape, not of open space itself.

  35. 35 · Anxiety and related disorders

    What are the core symptom clusters of PTSD?

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    Re-experiencing, avoidance, negative mood or cognition changes, and hyperarousal.

    Memory hook: Flashbacks, avoidance, arousal.

  36. 36 · Anxiety and related disorders

    How does acute stress disorder differ from PTSD by duration?

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    Acute stress disorder lasts from 3 days up to 1 month after the trauma; PTSD lasts more than 1 month.

    Memory hook: One month divides them.

  37. 37 · Anxiety and related disorders

    Which therapy is first line for PTSD?

    Show the answer

    Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy, with or without an SSRI.

    Memory hook: Trauma-focused CBT.

  38. 38 · Anxiety and related disorders

    What is conversion disorder?

    Show the answer

    Neurological symptoms such as paralysis or blindness without an organic cause, linked to psychological stress.

    Memory hook: Primary gain: reduced anxiety.

  39. 39 · Anxiety and related disorders

    What is la belle indifférence?

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    Inappropriate lack of concern about a serious symptom, classically seen in conversion disorder.

    Memory hook: Not specific, though classically cited.

  40. 40 · Substance use

    Which drug is used to reverse opioid overdose?

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    Naloxone, a short-acting opioid antagonist.

    Memory hook: Repeat doses may be needed.

  41. 41 · Substance use

    What is the classic triad of opioid overdose?

    Show the answer

    Pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression and coma.

    Memory hook: Pupils tiny.

  42. 42 · Substance use

    Which drug is used for maintenance in opioid dependence as an agonist?

    Show the answer

    Methadone, or buprenorphine as a partial agonist.

    Memory hook: Substitution therapy.

  43. 43 · Substance use

    Which drug is used to prevent relapse in opioid-free patients as an antagonist?

    Show the answer

    Naltrexone.

    Memory hook: Start only after detoxification.

  44. 44 · Substance use

    How does disulfiram work?

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    It inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase, so acetaldehyde accumulates and causes flushing, nausea and palpitations after alcohol.

    Memory hook: Aversive therapy.

  45. 45 · Substance use

    Which drug reduces craving in alcohol dependence by NMDA modulation?

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    Acamprosate.

    Memory hook: Acamprosate helps abstinence.

  46. 46 · Substance use

    Which benzodiazepine is preferred for alcohol withdrawal in liver disease?

    Show the answer

    Lorazepam (or oxazepam), because it is not oxidised in the liver.

    Memory hook: LOT: Lorazepam, Oxazepam, Temazepam.

  47. 47 · Substance use

    Which stimulant causes dilated pupils, hypertension, and formication ('cocaine bugs')?

    Show the answer

    Cocaine.

    Memory hook: Formication means insects under the skin.

  48. 48 · Substance use

    What is the first-line pharmacological aid to smoking cessation that is a partial nicotine receptor agonist?

    Show the answer

    Varenicline.

    Memory hook: Partial agonist at alpha4beta2.

  49. 49 · Substance use

    Which substance withdrawal is not usually life-threatening: opioid or alcohol?

    Show the answer

    Opioid withdrawal; alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can cause fatal seizures.

    Memory hook: Opioid withdrawal is miserable but rarely fatal.

  50. 50 · Organic mental disorders

    What is the hallmark of delirium compared with dementia?

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    Acute onset with fluctuating course and impaired attention and consciousness.

    Memory hook: Delirium: acute and fluctuating.

  51. 51 · Organic mental disorders

    Which sleep-wake abnormality is typical of delirium?

    Show the answer

    Reversed sleep-wake cycle with worsening at night (sundowning).

    Memory hook: Worse at night.

  52. 52 · Organic mental disorders

    What is the commonest cause of dementia?

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    Alzheimer's disease.

    Memory hook: Alzheimer's leads.

  53. 53 · Organic mental disorders

    What are the classic pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease?

    Show the answer

    Extracellular beta-amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles of tau.

    Memory hook: Plaques outside, tangles inside.

  54. 54 · Organic mental disorders

    Which drugs are used for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease?

    Show the answer

    Cholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine.

    Memory hook: Memantine is for moderate to severe.

  55. 55 · Organic mental disorders

    Which inclusion bodies characterise Lewy body dementia?

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    Lewy bodies containing alpha-synuclein.

    Memory hook: Neuroleptic sensitivity is a warning.

  56. 56 · Organic mental disorders

    Which dementia presents early with personality change and disinhibition?

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    Frontotemporal dementia (Pick's disease), with Pick bodies.

    Memory hook: Behaviour before memory.

  57. 57 · Organic mental disorders

    What is the triad of normal pressure hydrocephalus?

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    Gait disturbance, urinary incontinence and dementia.

    Memory hook: Wet, wobbly, wacky.

  58. 58 · Organic mental disorders

    What is Korsakoff syndrome?

    Show the answer

    Anterograde and retrograde amnesia with confabulation, due to thiamine deficiency, with preserved attention.

    Memory hook: Follows untreated Wernicke.

  59. 59 · Eating and sleep disorders

    What body weight defines anorexia nervosa in terms of BMI?

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    BMI below 17.5 kg/m2 in ICD-10; significantly low weight in DSM.

    Memory hook: Fear of fatness with distorted body image.

  60. 60 · Eating and sleep disorders

    What metabolic abnormalities occur in purging bulimia?

    Show the answer

    Hypokalaemic hypochloraemic metabolic alkalosis.

    Memory hook: Vomiting loses acid and potassium.

  61. 61 · Eating and sleep disorders

    What sign on the hand is seen in bulimia from self-induced vomiting?

    Show the answer

    Russell's sign: calluses on the knuckles.

    Memory hook: Russell: knuckles.

  62. 62 · Eating and sleep disorders

    Which antidepressant is commonly used for bulimia nervosa?

    Show the answer

    Fluoxetine.

    Memory hook: Bupropion is avoided as it lowers seizure threshold.

  63. 63 · Eating and sleep disorders

    What is the key distinguishing feature of binge eating disorder from bulimia?

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    Binges occur without regular compensatory behaviours such as vomiting.

    Memory hook: No purging.

  64. 64 · Eating and sleep disorders

    What is the tetrad of narcolepsy?

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    Excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis.

    Memory hook: Cataplexy is specific.

  65. 65 · Eating and sleep disorders

    Which deficiency is linked to cataplexy in narcolepsy?

    Show the answer

    Loss of hypocretin (orexin) neurons in the hypothalamus.

    Memory hook: Orexin keeps you awake.

  66. 66 · Eating and sleep disorders

    In which sleep stage do night terrors and sleepwalking occur?

    Show the answer

    Non-REM slow-wave sleep (stage N3).

    Memory hook: Child does not recall them.

  67. 67 · Psychopharmacology

    Which antipsychotic requires regular absolute neutrophil count monitoring?

    Show the answer

    Clozapine, because of the risk of agranulocytosis.

    Memory hook: Reserved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

  68. 68 · Psychopharmacology

    What are the common side effects of clozapine besides agranulocytosis?

    Show the answer

    Sialorrhoea, sedation, seizures, myocarditis and weight gain.

    Memory hook: Drooling at night.

  69. 69 · Psychopharmacology

    Which antipsychotic is associated with QT prolongation and is cautioned for that reason?

    Show the answer

    Thioridazine (also haloperidol and pimozide to a lesser degree).

    Memory hook: Thioridazine also causes retinal pigmentation.

  70. 70 · Psychopharmacology

    What is the treatment of acute dystonia from antipsychotics?

    Show the answer

    Anticholinergic such as benztropine or promethazine.

    Memory hook: Acts within minutes.

  71. 71 · Psychopharmacology

    What is the first-line treatment of antipsychotic-induced akathisia?

    Show the answer

    Propranolol (a beta blocker), or reducing the dose.

    Memory hook: Anticholinergics are less effective.

  72. 72 · Psychopharmacology

    What is the therapeutic serum range of lithium for maintenance?

    Show the answer

    About 0.6 to 1.2 mEq/L.

    Memory hook: Toxicity above 1.5.

  73. 73 · Psychopharmacology

    Which drugs raise lithium levels?

    Show the answer

    Thiazide diuretics, NSAIDs, ACE inhibitors and dehydration or low sodium.

    Memory hook: Lithium follows sodium.

  74. 74 · Psychopharmacology

    Which antidepressant causes hypertensive crisis with tyramine-rich foods?

    Show the answer

    MAO inhibitors, such as phenelzine and tranylcypromine.

    Memory hook: The cheese reaction.

  75. 75 · Psychopharmacology

    Which antidepressant is least likely to cause sexual dysfunction?

    Show the answer

    Bupropion (also mirtazapine).

    Memory hook: Bupropion lowers seizure threshold.

  76. 76 · Child and adolescent psychiatry

    What are the core features of ADHD?

    Show the answer

    Inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, starting before 12 years (DSM-5) and present in more than one setting.

    Memory hook: Two or more settings.

  77. 77 · Child and adolescent psychiatry

    What is the first-line drug for ADHD?

    Show the answer

    Methylphenidate, a stimulant.

    Memory hook: Atomoxetine is non-stimulant alternative.

  78. 78 · Child and adolescent psychiatry

    What is the triad of autism spectrum disorder in classical teaching?

    Show the answer

    Impaired social interaction, impaired communication and restricted repetitive behaviours.

    Memory hook: Onset in early childhood.

  79. 79 · Child and adolescent psychiatry

    How is intellectual disability graded by IQ in ICD-10 for mild?

    Show the answer

    Mild is IQ 50 to 69.

    Memory hook: Moderate 35-49, severe 20-34, profound below 20.

  80. 80 · Child and adolescent psychiatry

    What is enuresis and from what age is it diagnosed?

    Show the answer

    Repeated involuntary urination at night or day after a mental age of 5 years, without a physical cause.

    Memory hook: Treat with alarm first.

Common questions

How many Psychiatry flashcards are there?

80 cards across 12 topics. The deck grows as we add material.

Which topics are in the Psychiatry deck?

Anxiety and related disorders, Psychopharmacology, Psychotic disorders, Substance use, Treatment methods, Emergencies, Defence mechanisms, Anxiety disorders, Mood disorders, Organic mental disorders, Eating and sleep disorders, Child and adolescent psychiatry.

Is the Psychiatry deck free?

Psychiatry opens with a paid term. The free plan includes the Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry decks.

How do spaced-repetition cards work?

You rate each card Again, Hard, Good or Easy. Cards you find hard return soon and cards you know return later, so your time goes where you forget.

What is the memory hook on a card?

80 of these cards carry a one-line hook: a short cue that helps the answer stick. It is optional and appears after you reveal the answer.

How many Psychiatry cards should I do a day?

Ten to twenty minutes a day is plenty. A few due cards every day beat a long session once a week.

Can I flip through the cards on this page?

You can read each question and reveal its answer here. For scheduling, ratings and progress, study the deck in the app.

Are the Psychiatry cards reviewed by faculty?

Not yet. They are original and still awaiting independent review, so confirm anything important in a standard textbook.