MCQ Psychiatry Answer 15

The Correct Answer is B


Paroxetine (Paxil) has emerged as the drug of choice for treatment of social phobias. Also known as social anxiety disorder, social phobias characteristically cause fear of situations that may lead to embarrassing scrutiny. Patients learn to avoid situations where they feel others may notice them, such as church gatherings, classroom settings, and other group events. Lithium (Eskalith) and haloperidol (Haldol) are used for more severe psychiatric disturbances, while alprazolam (Xanax) would be best reserved for secondary use because of the possibility of dependency. Trazodone (Desyrel) is approved for treatment of depression, but its strong sedative properties make it inappropriate in this scenario.


Ref: 1) Brown CS: Depression and anxiety disorders. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am 2001;28(2):241-268. 2) Braunwald E, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, et al (eds): Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, ed 15. McGraw-Hill, 2001, pp 2543-2544. (ABFM, 2002).

Category: Psychiatry MCQs