Read the passage and answer the questions:
Anita is often found talking to herself alone. Her family is concerned because they have seen a gradual decline in her social life. She has stopped meeting her friends and chooses to stay inside, fantasizing about her idea of new world wherein she is the creator of a utopian territory with absolute law. A friend suggested that they take her to a therapist for treatment. It was observed that whenever she was approached by someone for a conversation, she would get agitated and blame them for stealing her ideas and thoughts. She is not able to think logically. She speaks in a peculiar way. Her situation is affecting both her social and personal life; the disturbed thought process is disrupting her basic functioning and thought process.
In absence of any external stimuli, when Anita talks to herself and feels threatened by others around, along with other symptoms, her condition can be diagnosed as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Schizophrenia
Option (1) Phobia — Incorrect. People with phobias have irrational fears related to specific objects, people or situations, such as a fear of lifts or lizards. Anita’s problem is not fear of a thing but a break from reality.
Option (2) Depression — Incorrect. Major depressive disorder is a period of depressed mood or loss of interest, with symptoms such as change in body weight, sleep problems and tiredness. Talking to herself and believing that others steal her thoughts are not signs of low mood.
Option (3) Schizophrenia — Correct. Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders in which personal, social and occupational functioning deteriorate through disturbed thought, strange perceptions and unusual emotions. Talking to herself in the absence of any external stimulus points to hallucinations; feeling threatened by others points to delusions of persecution; and her social life has declined.
Option (4) Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) — Incorrect. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that appears in early childhood, with inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity as its two main features. It does not involve hallucinations or delusions.
NCERT (2025-26): “Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders Schizophrenia is the descriptive term for a group of psychotic disorders in which personal, social and occupational functioning deteriorate as a result of disturbed thought processes, strange perceptions, unusual emotional states, and motor abnormalities.…” “Symptoms of Schizophrenia … People with schizophrenia may have hallucinations, i.e. perceptions that occur in the absence of external stimuli.…” |