Substance-induced mood disorder is best described as mood symptoms that:

• A. arise during intoxication or withdrawal and resolve with cessation
• B. persist independently of substances
• C. are always chronic
• D. have no relation to substances

Answer: (B)

Mood symptoms caused by substances are directly tied to the substance’s effects on the brain. In substance-induced mood disorder, the mood disturbance appears while the person is using a substance or during withdrawal and typically goes away after the substance is stopped and withdrawal resolves. This temporal relationship helps distinguish it from a primary mood disorder, where depressive or manic symptoms persist independent of substance use. So the best description is that the mood symptoms arise during intoxication or withdrawal and resolve with cessation. For example, depressive symptoms that disappear after a period of abstinence point to a substance-induced etiology, whereas mood symptoms that persist despite stopping use suggest a primary mood disorder.