LCSW Mental Health Disorders and Diagnosis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) most commonly reports worry that is:
- Focused exclusively on social evaluation
- Limited to a single specific feared object
- Pervasive and difficult to control across multiple life domains (Correct answer)
- Triggered only by specific traumatic memories
Correct answer: Pervasive and difficult to control across multiple life domains
GAD is characterized by excessive, difficult-to-control worry spanning multiple areas such as work, health, and relationships.
Question 2: Which of the following is the BEST description of a dissociative symptom?
- Persistent and intrusive recollections of a traumatic event
- Detachment from one's own mental processes or sense of identity (Correct answer)
- Elevated mood and decreased need for sleep
- Recurrent, unwanted obsessive thoughts
Correct answer: Detachment from one's own mental processes or sense of identity
Dissociation involves a disruption in consciousness, memory, identity, or perception, creating a sense of detachment from oneself or surroundings.
Question 3: A client presents with persistent beliefs that others are plotting against them, with no other psychotic symptoms and intact functioning. The MOST likely DSM-5 diagnosis is:
- Paranoid Schizophrenia
- Delusional Disorder (Correct answer)
- Paranoid Personality Disorder
- Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Correct answer: Delusional Disorder
Delusional Disorder involves non-bizarre or bizarre delusions without hallucinations or significant functional impairment outside the delusion.
Question 4: When assessing a client for ADHD in adults, the LCSW should note that DSM-5 requires symptoms to have first appeared before age:
- 5 years
- 7 years
- 12 years (Correct answer)
- 18 years
Correct answer: 12 years
DSM-5 requires that several ADHD symptoms were present before age 12, though the diagnosis can be made in adulthood.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the difference between obsessions and compulsions in OCD?
- Obsessions are behaviors; compulsions are intrusive thoughts
- Obsessions are intrusive thoughts that cause distress; compulsions are repetitive behaviors performed to reduce that distress (Correct answer)
- Both obsessions and compulsions are exclusively mental acts
- Compulsions always increase anxiety while obsessions reduce it
Correct answer: Obsessions are intrusive thoughts that cause distress; compulsions are repetitive behaviors performed to reduce that distress
In OCD, obsessions are unwanted intrusive thoughts causing distress, and compulsions are repetitive mental or behavioral acts performed to neutralize that distress.
Question 6: A DSM-5 diagnosis of Alcohol Use Disorder at the severe level is indicated by the presence of:
- 2–3 diagnostic criteria
- 4–5 diagnostic criteria
- 6 or more diagnostic criteria (Correct answer)
- At least 1 criterion involving withdrawal
Correct answer: 6 or more diagnostic criteria
Alcohol Use Disorder is classified as mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria) based on the number of symptoms present.
LCSW Mental Health Disorders and Diagnosis 2
A client with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) most commonly reports worry that is: