Mood Disorder Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which feature must be present during a major depressive episode?
Frequent changes between happiness and anger
Hallucinations occurring every day
A period of elevated energy lasting at least one month
Depressed mood or a marked loss of interest or pleasure
2. Which episode pattern is central to bipolar II disorder?
At least one hypomanic episode and one major depressive episode, with no history of a manic episode
Depressive episodes alternating daily with ordinary moods
Chronic mild depression with no elevated mood episodes
Manic episodes without depressive episodes
3. What can a brief online mood questionnaire appropriately do?
Confirm a specific diagnosis without an interview
Determine the correct medication and dose
Rule out medical causes of mood symptoms
Offer education or flag concerns worth discussing, while leaving diagnosis to a qualified professional assessment
4. Someone starts a prescribed antidepressant and expects complete improvement the next morning. Which explanation is most accurate?
Antidepressants should always produce their full benefit after one dose.
The dose should be doubled whenever symptoms continue.
No early improvement proves that the diagnosis is incorrect.
Benefits often take time, and effects or concerns should be reviewed with the prescriber rather than changing treatment independently.
5. A friend says, “Everyone would be better off without me.” What is the most appropriate response?
Wait until the next day to see whether the comment was serious.
Avoid mentioning suicide because asking about it is likely to create the idea.
Ask directly about immediate safety and suicidal thoughts, stay engaged, and connect them with urgent crisis or emergency support when needed.
Promise to keep the statement secret before asking anything else.
6. After a painful setback, someone feels sad for several days but continues daily activities and gradually improves. What most clearly distinguishes this response from a possible mood disorder?
A mood disorder is present whenever sadness follows a stressful event.
A mood disorder involves a clinically assessed pattern of symptoms, duration, context, and functional impact—not sadness alone.
Ordinary sadness always disappears within 24 hours.
Only unexplained sadness can be part of a mood disorder.
7. A person experiences depressive episodes that repeatedly begin during a particular season and improve at another time of year. What concept might a clinician assess?
Rapid cycling
Major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern
A manic episode
Persistent depressive disorder
8. For a week, a person sleeps very little, speaks rapidly, feels unusually powerful, spends recklessly, and becomes unable to function safely. Which concept best fits this description?
A normal burst of confidence
A possible manic episode requiring prompt professional assessment
A hypomanic episode because all elevated moods are hypomania
Persistent depressive disorder
9. During an intense mood episode, someone hears threatening voices and appears disconnected from reality. What is the best interpretation?
Psychotic symptoms can occur in severe mood episodes and call for prompt professional assessment, especially if safety is uncertain.
This establishes schizophrenia rather than any mood disorder.
This is a routine mood change that requires only rest.
The experience can be ignored unless it continues for several months.
10. Why might a clinician ask about medications, substance use, sleep, and physical health when assessing mood symptoms?
These questions are used only when mood symptoms are mild.
Medical conditions, medications, substances, and sleep disruption can cause or influence mood symptoms and should be considered.
Physical and substance-related factors cannot resemble mood disorders, but they can affect treatment costs.
A laboratory test can independently identify every mood disorder.
11. A bereaved person has persistent loss of pleasure, intense worthlessness, major functional difficulties, and thoughts of death. Which statement is most accurate?
Bereavement prevents a depressive disorder from being considered.
Any grief lasting more than two weeks is automatically major depression.
Thoughts of death are an expected part of grief and do not need attention.
Grief and depression can overlap, so a professional should assess the full symptom pattern, context, and safety concerns.
12. A teenager becomes persistently irritable, withdraws from friends, loses interest in activities, and struggles at school. Which statement is accurate?
Depression in young people always looks exactly like adult sadness.
Irritability alone proves bipolar disorder.
Persistent irritability can accompany depression in young people, but a professional assessment must consider other explanations too.
School difficulties exclude a mood disorder.
13. Which statement best describes evidence-based care for mood disorders?
Care may include psychotherapy, medication, supportive routines, or a combination tailored through professional assessment and follow-up.
Lifestyle changes always replace professional treatment.
One standard treatment plan works equally well for everyone.
Medication is the only meaningful treatment for every mood disorder.
14. A person with a history of mania has gone several nights with almost no sleep and is becoming increasingly energized. Why does this change deserve attention?
Extra energy after sleep loss is always harmless and temporary.
Reduced sleep rules out a mood episode because mania requires normal sleep.
Sleep loss can worsen or help trigger manic symptoms, so early contact with the person's care team may be important.
Sleep matters only during depressive episodes.
15. Which description best matches persistent depressive disorder?
A long-lasting pattern of depressed mood accompanied by additional depressive symptoms
A single brief period of sadness after disappointment
Repeated episodes of full mania without depression
Mood changes that occur several times within every hour
16. A person feels deeply hopeless while also having racing thoughts, unusual energy, agitation, and little need for sleep. Which concept is most relevant?
A seasonal pattern
Uncomplicated grief
A mood episode with mixed features
Persistent depressive disorder by definition