Identify the disorder in which a person feels fearful and anxious about separation from attachment figures to an extent that is developmentally not appropriate:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Separation anxiety disorder
Option (1) Separation anxiety disorder — Correct. The question gives the very definition: individuals with SAD are fearful and anxious about separation from attachment figures to an extent that is developmentally not appropriate. Children with SAD may find it hard to be in a room by themselves or to go to school alone.
Option (2) Obsessive-compulsive disorder — Incorrect. Here the person cannot control a preoccupation with specific ideas or cannot stop repeating certain acts, such as washing or checking. It has nothing to do with being away from loved ones.
Option (3) Social anxiety disorder — Incorrect. It is intense and incapacitating fear and embarrassment when dealing with others (social phobia). The fear is of people and their judgment, not of separation.
Option (4) Attachment disorder — Incorrect. It describes a young child who, after severe neglect, fails to form a normal bond with caregivers and seldom seeks comfort from them. That is the opposite of clinging to attachment figures (see the Note).
Note 1: The concept in Option (4), ‘attachment disorder’, is not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 15-06-2023 (Slot 3).
NCERT (2025-26): “Anxiety Disorders … Phobias can be grouped into three main types, i.e. specific phobias, social phobias, and agoraphobia. Specific phobias are the most commonly occurring type of phobia. This group includes irrational fears such as intense fear of a certain type of animal, or of being in an enclosed space. Intense and incapacitating fear and embarrassment when dealing with others characterises social anxiety disorder (social phobia).…” “…Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is another type of anxiety disorder. Individuals with separation anxiety disorder are fearful and anxious about separation from attachment figures to an extent that is developmentally not appropriate.…” |