Read the case carefully and answer the question that follow :
Rahul turned 14 last month. He had a big birthday party and invited all his friends. He likes his school and friends in the society.
Rahul's father works in a big office and has been asked to shift from Delhi to Bangalore. This news has disturbed Rahul and he is showing erratic behaviour and has alienated himself from his friends.
He has frequent mood swings and also gets anxious everytime his parents try to talk about their life in Bangalore.
This news has also led Rahul to skip meals along with disturbed sleep patterns and poor academic performance. His parents don't know how to handle the situation and have been advised by Rahul's class teacher to see the school counsellor.
Which of the following are sources of stress?
(A) Life Events
(B) Hassles
(C) Traumatic Events
(D) Quiet Evenings
(E) Social gatherings
Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A), (B) and (C) Only
(A) Life Events Correct. Major changes, planned (moving into a new house) or unpredicted (break-up of a long-term relationship), disturb our routine and cause upheaval. Several of them in a short period make a person more prone to stress.
(B) Hassles Correct. These are the annoying, frequent irritations of everyday life, such as noisy surroundings, commuting, quarrelsome neighbours or electricity and water shortages. Each is small, but they add up.
(C) Traumatic Events Correct. These are extreme events such as a fire, a train or road accident, robbery or an earthquake. Their effects may persist as anxiety, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts.
(D) Quiet Evenings Incorrect. A quiet evening is not a source of stress by itself. It is only an example of how social stress varies from person to person: an outgoing person may find staying at home in the evening stressful, while another person enjoys it.
(E) Social gatherings Incorrect. The same example works the other way: attending parties may be stressful for a person who likes quiet evenings at home. A gathering is stressful only for some people, so it is not one of the sources of stress, which are life events, hassles and traumatic events.
NCERT (2025-26): “Social Stress … These are induced externally and result from our interaction with other people. Social events like death or illness in the family, strained relationships, trouble with neighbours are some examples of social stresses. These social stresses vary widely from person to person. Attending parties may be stressful for a person who likes to spend quiet evenings at home while an outgoing person may find staying at home in the evenings stressful.…” “Sources of Stress … A wide range of events and conditions can generate stress. Among the most important of these are major stressful life events, such as death of a loved one or personal injury, the annoying frequent hassles of everyday life and traumatic events that affect our lives.…” “Life Events … Changes, both big and small, sudden and gradual affect our life from the moment we are born. We learn to cope with small, everyday changes but major life events can be stressful, because they disturb our routine and cause upheaval. If several of these life events that are planned (e.g. moving into a new house) or unpredicted (e.g. break-up of a long-term relationship) occur within a short period of time, we find it difficult to cope with them and will be more prone to the symptoms of stress.” “Hassles … These are the personal stresses we endure as individuals, due to the happenings in our daily life, such as noisy surroundings, commuting, quarrelsome neighbours, electricity and water shortage, traffic snarls, and so on.…” “Traumatic Events … These include being involved in a variety of extreme events such as a fire, train or road accident, robbery, earthquake, tsunami, etc.…” |