PLAB 1 Mental Health Practice Questions
One of the ten areas in your GMC result · 58 practice questions with answers
180 questions across all ten areas in 3 hours, with a score for mental health so you know where you stand.
Free mental health drillA 79-year-old woman started sertraline for depression 3 weeks ago. She is brought in with confusion and drowsiness. She appears clinically euvolaemic. Serum sodium is 121 mmol/L, serum osmolality is low and urine osmolality is inappropriately high. Thyroid function and a short Synacthen test are normal. She takes no other medicines. What is the most likely cause?
Mental Health on PLAB 1
Mental health questions test what a Foundation doctor does on a medical ward, in the emergency department and in general practice: assess risk after self-harm, recognise psychosis and delirium, start and monitor psychotropic drugs safely, and know when the Mental Health Act applies.
- In your GMC result
- Your percentage correct in mental health, next to the average for all candidates
- On our mock exam
- 16 of 180 questions, with your percentage for this area in the result
- Our drill
- 10 questions from 58 mental health questions, untimed, an explanation after every answer; one free attempt, unlimited with a pass
What mental health questions test
- Depression and anxiety: diagnosis, stepped care, SSRI choice and side effects, and referral
- Psychosis and bipolar disorder: first presentation, antipsychotic side effects, lithium and clozapine monitoring
- Self-harm and suicide risk: assessment after self-harm and immediate safety
- Delirium and dementia: telling them apart, causes of delirium and safe sedation
- Substance misuse: alcohol withdrawal, Wernicke encephalopathy, opioid overdose and dependence
- Law: the Mental Health Act 1983 sections a junior doctor meets, and how they differ from the Mental Capacity Act 2005
Sit the full 180 questions under the real clock
180 questions across all ten areas in 3 hours, with a score for mental health so you know where you stand.
Free mental health drillHow to revise it
- Learn the monitoring schedules for lithium, clozapine and antipsychotics; they are common prescribing questions.
- Know the difference between the Mental Health Act (treatment of a mental disorder) and the Mental Capacity Act (decisions for a person who lacks capacity).
- Practise risk-assessment questions; the best answer is usually the one that keeps the patient safe now.
Common questions
Which sections of the Mental Health Act are tested?
Those a Foundation doctor meets: section 5(2) (a doctor holding an informal inpatient), section 2 (assessment), section 3 (treatment) and section 136 (police). Questions ask which applies to a scenario.
Is alcohol withdrawal a mental health or a medical question?
Both appear on PLAB 1. In our bank, alcohol withdrawal, Wernicke encephalopathy and dependence sit in mental health, which matches the substance-misuse topics in the MLA content map.
180 questions across all ten areas in 3 hours, with a score for mental health so you know where you stand.
Free mental health drillThe other PLAB 1 areas
Sources
- GMC: What is the PLAB 1 exam? (180 questions, three hours, five options)
- GMC: PLAB 1 results (scoring, ten feedback areas, Angoff pass mark, exam and result dates)
- GMC: When and where can I take PLAB 1?
- GMC: Booking a PLAB 1 place (eligibility, attempt limit)
- GMC: Fees for doctors (PLAB fees from 1 April 2026)
- GMC: Additional PLAB 1 attempt
- GMC: Recent pass rates for PLAB 1 and PLAB 2
- GMC: MLA content map (September 2026)
- GMC: Changes to PLAB 1 in 2027
Original practice questions for exam preparation, written to the GMC’s MLA content map (September 2026) and current UK guidance. Independent practice, not affiliated with or endorsed by the General Medical Council (GMC). Follow current national and local guidance in clinical practice.