What Paper B tests in General Adult Psychiatry
Paper B is a written paper of about 150 questions (single-best-answer MCQs and extended matching items) sat over three hours, blueprinted against the RCPsych syllabus. Questions from this domain typically cover:
- Mood Disorders
- Psychosis & Schizophrenia
- Anxiety Disorders & OCD
- Personality Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- Emergency Psychiatry & Legislation
- Somatoform & Functional Disorders
- Dissociative Disorders
- Liaison Psychiatry
- Emergency Psychiatry
- Psychosexual Disorders
- Gender Identity
Worked example
This is a real question from the General Adult Psychiatry section, the kind you will see in Paper B:
Postpartum (puerperal) psychosis most characteristically:
- Begins gradually over several months
- Has an abrupt onset within the first 1-2 weeks after delivery
- Only occurs after the first pregnancy
- Never involves mood symptoms
- Is a normal experience requiring no treatment
How to revise this section for Paper B
Work in short, active blocks: attempt questions first, read the explanation whether right or wrong, and log the subtopics you miss. Our weakness tracker flags any subtopic where you score below 60% so you can target revision rather than re-reading everything. Anchor your reading to the recommended text (New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry) so your facts match the exam blueprint.
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See the full MRCPsych Paper A guide or browse all 14 revision sections.