NIOS Class 12 Psychology Chapter 23 Answers
INTEXT QUESTIONS 23.1
1. What do you understand by mental health?
Ans: Mental Health is a state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between oneself and others, a co-existence between the realities of the self and those of other people and the environment.
2. State common signs of Poor Mental Health.
Ans: Some common signs of poor mental health are Substance use, Poor concentration, worrying more, finding it hard to make decisions, feeling less interested in day-to-day activities, Low mood, feeling overwhelmed by things, Tearfulness, etc.
3. State true or false
a. A mentally healthy person is able to solve his problems largely by his own effort and makes his own decisions. True/False
Ans: True
b. Individuals with Poor Mental health are able to adapt easily in social situations. True/False
Ans: False
INTEXT QUESTIONS 23.2
1. Enumurate predisposing factor responsible for poor mental health?
Ans: Predisposing factors
- Genetic makeup
- Physical damage to the central nervous systemÂ
- Adverse psychosocial influence
2. Enumerate psychological factors leading to mental illnesses?
Ans: Personality type, Interpersonal relationship, childhood issues and social problems.
3. What are social factors affecting mental health of person?
Ans: Poverty, unemployment, injustice, insecurity, migration, urbanization, alcoholism, gambling, multiple sexual partners, broken homes, divorce very big family, religion, traditions, and political turmoil.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 23.3
1. What are the types of mood disorder?
Ans: Depression and Bipolar disorder.
2. What are different types of anxiety disorder?
Ans: Generalized anxiety disorder, Panic disorder, and Phobia.
3. What are different types of phobia?
Ans: Specific phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 23.4
1. Explain different steps of treating mental disorder?
Ans: Phase of therapy
a Preparation of case history
b Determination of the problem
c Therapeutic Session
d Termination of Therapeutic Intervention
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1. Define Mental Health
Ans: Mental health is a state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between oneself and others, a co-existence between the realities of the self and those of other people and the environment.
2. Explain various characteristics of a Mentally Healthy Person.
Ans: Characteristics of A Mentally Healthy Person
- He/She can make adjustments.
- He/She has a sense of personal worth, feels worthwhile and important.
- He/She solves his problems largely by his own effort and makes his own decisions.
- He/She has a sense of personal security and feels secure in a group, shows understanding of other people’s problems and motives.
- He/She has a sense of responsibility.
- He/She can give and accept love.
- He/She lives in a world of reality rather than fantasy.
- He/She shows emotional maturity in his behaviour, and develops a capacity to tolerate frustration and disappointments in his daily life.
- He/She has developed a philosophy of life that gives meaning and purpose to his daily activities.
- He/She has a variety of interests and generally lives a well-balanced life of work, rest and recreation.
3. Briefly discuss the Mental Disorders and their treatment.
Ans:
- Preparation of case history: The history of the particular disorder is prepared targeting the adjustment pattern of the client with family, friends, social and occupational setup.
- Determination of the problem: After preparing the case history, the psychotherapist identifies certain key problems which require urgent attention. This is achieved through the administration of clinical tests and interviews.
- Therapeutic Session: Depending on the nature and severity of the problem, the psychotherapist conducts a session with the client with a focused treatment plan. Progress after each session is monitored and assessed, and further interventions are modified if necessary.
- Termination of Therapeutic Intervention: Once it is confirmed that the sessions have yielded the desired outcome set by the psychotherapist, then it is terminated. The client and the family members are asked to follow the suggestions at home, and if required, the client is asked to visit the psychotherapist again.
4. Enumerate some effective strategies for maintaining Health and Well Being.
Ans: Some effective strategies for maintaining Health and well-being
- Early childhood interventions (e.g. Providing a stable environment that is sensitive to children’s health and nutritional needs, with protection from threats, opportunities for early learning, and interactions that are responsive, emotionally supportive and developmentally stimulating).
- Support to children (e.g. Life skills programmes, child and youth development programmes).
- Socio-economic empowerment of women (e.g. improving access to education and microcredit schemes).
- Social support for elderly populations (e.g. Befriending initiatives, community and day centres for the aged).
- Programmes targeted at vulnerable people, including minorities, indigenous people, migrants and people affected by conflicts and disasters (e.g. Psycho-social interventions after disasters).
- Mental health promotional activities in schools (e.g. Programmes involving supportive ecological changes in schools).
- Mental health interventions at work (e.g. Stress prevention programmes).
- Housing policies (e.g. Housing improvement).
- Violence prevention programmes (e.g. Reducing availability of alcohol and access to arms).
- Community development programmes (e.g. integrated rural development).
- Poverty reduction and social protection for the poor.
- Anti-discrimination laws and campaigns.
5. Identify the various factors that can lead to Poor Mental Health.
Ans: Many factors are responsible for the causation of mental illness. These factors may predispose an individual to mental illness, precipitate or perpetuate the mental illness.
- Predisposing Factors: These factors determine an individual’s susceptibility to mental illness. They interact with precipitating factors resulting in mental illness. They are genetic makeup, physical damage to the central nervous system, and adverse psychosocial influence.Â
- Precipitating Factors: These are events that occur shortly before the onset of a disorder and appear to have induced it. Eg., Physical and psychosocial stress.Â
- Perpetuating Factors: These factors are responsible for aggravating or prolonging the diseases already existing in an individual. Psychosocial stress is an example. Thus, etiological factors of mental illness can be: biological, physiological, psychological, and social factors.Â
6. What are the different types of anxiety disorders and their clinical features?
Ans: There are different kinds of anxiety disorders in which the feeling of anxiety manifests in different forms. They are as follows.Â
- Generalised anxiety disorder, which consists of prolonged, excessive, unexplained and intense worry that is not attached to any particular object. The symptoms must persist for at least six months for the diagnosis. 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.Â
- Panic disorder, which consists of recurrent attacks of anxiety in which the person experiences intense terror. A panic attack denotes an abrupt surge of intense anxiety rising to a peak when thoughts of particular stimuli are present. Such thoughts occur unpredictably. The clinical features include shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, palpitations, choking, nausea, chest pain or discomfort, fear of going crazy, losing control or dying.Â
- Phobias: People who have phobias have irrational fears related to specific objects, people, or situations. Phobias often develop gradually or begin with a generalized anxiety disorder. 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.Â
- Intense, incapacitating fear and embarrassment when dealing with others characterises social phobias.
- Agoraphobia is the term used when people develop a fear of entering unfamiliar situations. Many agoraphobics are afraid of leaving their homes. So their ability to carry out normal life activities is severely limited.Â
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: People affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder are unable to control their preoccupation with specific ideas or are unable to prevent themselves from repeatedly carrying out a particular act or series of acts that affect their ability to carry out normal activities.
- Obsessive behaviour is the inability to stop thinking about a particular idea or topic. The person involved often finds these thoughts to be unpleasant and shameful.
- Compulsive behaviour is the need to perform certain behaviour over and over again. Many compulsions deal with counting, ordering, checking, touching and washing.
- PTSD: Very often, people who have been caught in a natural disaster (such asa tsunami) or have been victims of bomb blasts by terrorists, or been in a serious accident or in a war-related situation, experience post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD symptoms vary widely but may include recurrent dreams, flashbacks, impaired concentration, and emotional numbing.
7. Explain any two types of mood disorder and their characteristics as well as risk factors?
Ans: Mood disorders are characterized by disturbances in mood or prolonged emotional state. The main types of mood disorders include depression, mania and bipolar disorders.
Depression
The most common mood disorder is depression, which covers a variety of negative moods and behavioural changes. People may experience depression in different ways. It may interfere with your lifestyle, leading to impairment of function in various tasks and activities of your routine life. It can also influence relationships and some chronic health conditions.
Factors predisposing towards depression:
- Genetic make-up, or heredity, is an important risk factor for major depression and bipolar disorders.Â
- Age is also a risk factor.Â
- Similarly, gender also plays a great role in this differential risk addition.Â
- Other risk factors are experiencing negative life events, loneliness and lack of social support.
Mania and Bipolar Disorder
People suffering from mania become euphoric or experience ‘high’, can be extremely active, excessively talkative, and are easily distractible. Manic episodes rarely appear by themselves; they usually alternate with depression, which means after an episode of depression, an individual is likely to experience an episode of mania.Â
Such a mood disorder, in which both mania and depression are alternately present, is sometimes interrupted by periods of normal mood. This is known as bipolar mood disorder, where two different mood episodes occur in the same patient but during different time periods. In rare cases, both symptoms occur simultaneously, which is known as mixed disorder. Bipolar mood disorders were earlier referred to as manic-depressive disorders.Â
- Risks factors: Among the mood disorders and severe depression, the lifetime risk of a suicide attempt is highest in the case of bipolar mood disorders. Several risk factors, in addition to the mental health status of a person, predict the likelihood of suicide. These include age, gender, ethnicity, or race and recent occurrence of negative life events.
8. What are the steps involved in the process of psychotherapeutic intervention?
Ans:
- Preparation of case history: The history of the particular disorder is prepared targeting the adjustment pattern of the client with family, friends, social and occupational setup.
- Determination of the problem: After preparing the case history, the psychotherapist identifies certain key problems which require urgent attention. This is achieved through the administration of clinical tests and interviews.
- Therapeutic Session: Depending on the nature and severity of the problem, the psychotherapist conducts a session with the client with a focused treatment plan. Progress after each session is monitored and assessed, and further interventions are modified if necessary.
- Termination of Therapeutic Intervention: Once it is confirmed that the sessions have yielded the desired outcome set by the psychotherapist, then it is terminated. The client and the family members are asked to follow the suggestions at home, and if required, the client is asked to visit the psychotherapist again.
9. What are the different signs of poor mental health?
Ans: Signs of Poor Mental Health
- Confused thinking
- Prolonged depression (sadness or irritability)
- Feelings of extreme highs and lows
- Excessive fears, worries and anxieties
- Social withdrawal
- Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits
- Strong feelings of anger
- Strange thoughts (delusions)
- Seeing or hearing things that aren’t there (hallucinations)
- Growing inability to cope with daily problems and activities
- Suicidal thoughts
- Numerous unexplained physical ailments
- Irritability and short temper
- Aggression
- Substance use
- Poor concentration
- Being easily distracted
- Worrying more
- Finding it hard to make decisions
- Feeling less interested in day-to-day activities
- Frequent mood swings
- Feeling overwhelmed by things
- Tearfulness
- Tiredness and lack of energy
- Sleeping more or less
- Talking less and avoiding social activities
- Talking more or talking very fast, jumping between topics and ideas
- Finding it difficult to control your emotions
- Excessive Drinking
10. What are some of the psychological and social factors that can contribute to the development of mental disorders?
Ans:
Psychological Factors
- It is observed that some specific personality types are more prone to develop certain psychological disorders. For example, those who are unsocial and reserved (schizoid) are vulnerable to schizophrenia when they face adverse situations and psychosocial stresses.
- Psychological factors like strained interpersonal relationships at home, place of work, school or college, bereavement, loss of prestige, loss of job, etc.
- Childhood insecurities due to parents with problematic personalities, wrongful attitude of parents (over-strictness, over leniency), abnormal parent-child relationship overprotection, rejection, unhealthy comparisons), deprivation of the child’s essential psychological and social needs, etc.
- Social and recreational deprivations resulting in boredom and isolation.
- Marriage problems like forced bachelorhood, disharmony due to physical, emotional, social, educational or financial incompatibility, childlessness, too many children, etc.
- Sexual difficulties arising out of improper sex education, unhealthy attitudes towards sexual functions, guilt feelings about masturbation, pre and extra-marital sex relations, worries about sexual perversions.
- Stress, frustration and seasonal variations are sometimes noted in the occurrence of mental diseases.
Social Factors
- Poverty, unemployment, injustice, insecurity, migration, and urbanisation
- Alcoholism, gambling, multiple sexual partners, broken homes, divorce, very big family, religion, traditions, political turmoil and other social crises.
Additional Study Materials
- NIOS Class 12 Psychology Syllabus Bifurcation
- NIOS Class 12 Sample Question Paper
- Group Processes
- Attitude
- Pro Social Behavior
- Coping with Stress
