Read the passage below and answer the questions as instructed:-
Driving back home Shriya experienced increased heart beat, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, palpitations and she started having a feeling of discomfort. She was so scared that she stopped the car and sat on the pavement. In the next few months, frequency of these attacks increased, and the fear of being caught in the traffic was so high that she stopped driving. She felt that she was going crazy and losing control on herself.
Which of the following is a symptom of the disorder identified?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Recurrent anxiety attacks
The disorder identified in Shriya is panic disorder. The other three options are the marks of generalised anxiety disorder, a different anxiety disorder.
Option (1) Apprehensions — Incorrect. Worry and apprehensive feelings about the future are listed as symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder, a long-lasting vague fear. Shriya’s trouble comes in sudden attacks.
Option (2) Restlessness — Incorrect. Generalised anxiety disorder is marked by motor tension: the person cannot relax, is restless and visibly shaky. This is a steady tension, not an attack.
Option (3) Hyper vigilance — Incorrect. Hypervigilance means constantly scanning the environment for dangers, again a feature of generalised anxiety disorder.
Option (4) Recurrent anxiety attacks — Correct. Panic disorder consists of recurrent anxiety attacks in which the person experiences intense terror. Shriya’s attacks kept coming back and grew more frequent over the next few months.
NCERT (2025-26): “Anxiety Disorders … They include generalised anxiety disorder, which consists of prolonged, vague, unexplained and intense fears that are not attached to any particular object. The symptoms include worry and apprehensive feelings about the future; hypervigilance, which involves constantly scanning the environment for dangers. It is marked by motor tension, as a result of which the person is unable to relax, is restless, and visibly shaky and tense. Another type of anxiety disorder is panic disorder, which consists of recurrent anxiety attacks in which the person experiences intense terror. A panic attack denotes an abrupt surge of intense anxiety rising to a peak when thoughts of a particular stimuli are present. Such thoughts occur in an unpredictable manner. The clinical features include shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, palpitations, choking, nausea, chest pain or discomfort, fear of going crazy, losing control or dying.…” |