Read the passage below and answer the questions
Sudhir is a 15-year-old boy, who has recently begun to experience persistent sadness and loss of interest in activities he once enjoyed. He is often found to be irritated without any specific reasons. Despite parental and school support, he feels worthless and thinks his future is doomed. His academic performance and social life has been severely affected. It has been found that his maternal uncle had also experienced such problems when he was young. However, timely identification and psychological aid helped in improving his condition. Psychologists have emphasized that these patterns are not merely emotional reactions and may indicate a mood disorder that is characterized by a disturbed emotional state which may include prolonged periods of sadness and thoughts of self-harm and suicide in serious cases.
Reflection of similar symptoms in Sudhir’s maternal uncle when he was young indicates:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Genetic predisposition
Option (1) Environmental influence — Incorrect. Negative life events and lack of social support are environmental risk factors. Sudhir has parental and school support, and the question points to a relative who had the same problems.
Option (2) Gender influence — Incorrect. Gender does change the risk; for example, women are more likely to report a depressive disorder than men. A similar problem in a male relative says nothing about gender.
Option (3) Impact of age — Incorrect. Age is a risk factor too, with risk highest at different ages for women and men. The question is about a family link, not about the age at which problems appear.
Option (4) Genetic predisposition — Correct. Genetic make-up, or heredity, is an important risk factor for major depression and other depressive disorders. The same symptoms in his maternal uncle, a blood relative, point to a predisposition that runs in the family.
NCERT (2025-26): “Factors Predisposing towards Depression : … Genetic make-up, or heredity is an important risk factor for major depression and other depressive disorders. Age is also a risk factor. For instance, women are particularly at risk during young adulthood, while for men the risk is highest in early middle age. Similarly gender also plays a great role in this differential risk addition. For example, women in comparison to men are more likely to report a depressive disorder. Other risk factors are experiencing negative life events and lack of social support.…” |