AHPC Licensure Examination — Community Mental Health

Sample Community Mental Health practice questions

Try these 12 questions from different topics. Open "Show answer" to check yourself and read the explanation.

1. Question 1 · Assessment & Crisis Safety

   A person says they intend to die today and has immediate access to the planned means. What is the priority action?

   1. A.Promise to keep the plan secret
   2. B.Leave the person alone to calm down
   3. C.Schedule a routine review next month
   4. D.Maintain immediate safety and supervision while arranging urgent specialist or emergency support
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Maintain immediate safety and supervision while arranging urgent specialist or emergency support

   Imminent self-harm risk requires immediate safety measures, removal of means where possible and urgent escalation.

2. Question 2 · Psychosis, Mood & Substance-Use Conditions

   A distressed person reports hearing threatening voices. What is the best initial communication approach?

   1. A.Listen calmly, assess safety and avoid arguing about the experience
   2. B.Mock the experience
   3. C.Confirm that every voice is objectively real
   4. D.End the assessment without checking risk
   Show answer

   Answer: A. Listen calmly, assess safety and avoid arguing about the experience

   Respectful, non-confrontational assessment supports engagement while urgent risks and medical causes are evaluated.

3. Question 3 · Recovery, Rights & Community Support

   Which care plan best reflects recovery-oriented community mental health practice?

   1. A.A plan made without speaking to the person
   2. B.A collaborative plan based on the person’s goals, functioning, supports and informed preferences
   3. C.Permanent exclusion from community activities
   4. D.Medication alone with no follow-up or psychosocial support
   Show answer

   Answer: B. A collaborative plan based on the person’s goals, functioning, supports and informed preferences

   Recovery-oriented care is person-centred, rights-based and connected to family and community supports when appropriate.

4. Question 4 · Assessment & Crisis Safety

   Which of these terms does NOT apply to memory?

   1. A.Longitudinal
   2. B.Long term
   3. C.Short term
   4. D.Retentive
   Show answer

   Answer: A. Longitudinal

   Long-term, short-term, and retentive are all recognized memory classifications; "longitudinal" describes a study design, not a memory type.

5. Question 5 · Psychosis, Mood & Substance-Use Conditions

   One of these statements concerning delusions is false. Which one?

   1. A.Delusions can be shared between two or more people (folie à deux)
   2. B.A delusion can lead somebody into trouble
   3. C.Some delusional ideas can be reported to the police by the sufferer
   4. D.Some people with delusions can be successfully counseled to get rid of the ideas
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Some people with delusions can be successfully counseled to get rid of the ideas

   Delusions are fixed, false beliefs held with conviction despite evidence to the contrary — by definition they are not amenable to logical persuasion or counseling.

6. Question 6 · Recovery, Rights & Community Support

   The commonest reason for relapse of a psychiatric patient is:

   1. A.Roaming about
   2. B.Being over-cheerful
   3. C.Poor drug compliance
   4. D.Poverty
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Poor drug compliance

   Poor medication adherence is the most consistently cited driver of psychiatric relapse.

7. Question 7 · Assessment & Crisis Safety

   Anxiety can result in which of the following?

   1. A.Headaches
   2. B.Palpitations
   3. C.All of the above
   4. D.None of the above
   Show answer

   Answer: C. All of the above

   Both headaches and palpitations are recognized somatic symptoms of anxiety.

8. Question 8 · Psychosis, Mood & Substance-Use Conditions

   The prevalence of Schizophrenia across most countries worldwide is estimated to be:

   1. A.1%
   2. B.20%
   3. C.5%
   4. D.25%
   Show answer

   Answer: A. 1%

   A lifetime prevalence of roughly 1% is the standard cited figure worldwide.

9. Question 9 · Recovery, Rights & Community Support

   Select the true statement concerning the current Ghanaian mental health Act.

   1. A.It is the NRCD 30
   2. B.It is the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846)
   3. C.It was enacted in 2013
   4. D.It was signed by President John Mahama
   Show answer

   Answer: B. It is the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846)

   NRCD 30 was the earlier 1972 decree; the current law is Act 846, passed by Parliament in March 2012 and signed into law by President John Atta Mills on 31 May 2012 — before his death and Mahama's succession that July.

10. Question 10 · Assessment & Crisis Safety

    Delirium can be caused by which of the following?

    1. A.Electrolyte imbalance
    2. B.Drug intoxication
    3. C.Only electrolyte imbalance is correct
    4. D.Both electrolyte imbalance and drug intoxication are correct
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Both electrolyte imbalance and drug intoxication are correct

    Both are well-established causes of delirium among many possible organic precipitants.

11. Question 11 · Psychosis, Mood & Substance-Use Conditions

    This drug should not be used by a patient suffering from Glaucoma:

    1. A.Chlorpromazine
    2. B.Lithium
    3. C.Haloperidol
    4. D.Amitriptyline
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Amitriptyline

    Amitriptyline (a tricyclic antidepressant) has pronounced anticholinergic effects that can precipitate acute angle-closure glaucoma.

12. Question 12 · Recovery, Rights & Community Support

    Select one of the main thrusts of the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846):

    1. A.It frowns on institutional care and promotes community care
    2. B.It will import psychiatrists from abroad
    3. C.It does not tolerate traditional practices
    4. D.It allows only drug treatment
    Show answer

    Answer: A. It frowns on institutional care and promotes community care

    A central thrust of Act 846 is shifting away from institutional/asylum-based care toward community-based mental health care.