READING COMPREHENSION
It’s amazing how emotions trapped in human mind toss and turn under the command of time. What is innocence in childhood turns ignorance in an adult. Rebel in a country is a patriot to the other. Taciturnity in a classroom is obedience in a church. Forever chased, emotions turn fugitive to the relentless hunt of a society restless by nature. Barring one infamous exception. Obsession. An ubiquitous human emotion perennially present from childhood to adulthood, from cradle to the coffin. From an obsessive husband to an obsessive mother to any obsessive ritual, this is one heck of an emotion that is obsessed by default. We physicians call it a disorder.
I am always leery of the expression ‘genetic influence’. For, one, it adds an air of profundity that a disorder should not enjoy and two, it transcends a life span and seriously challenges our management. But like so many others, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) does have a strong genetic component. And like many more, environmental factors (like a certain streptococcal infection) also adds to the influence. Despite all these proclivities, scientists have reclaimed grounds by capturing a circuit in the brain, a pathway through which these compulsion traverse: cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC). This is important and a landmark breakthrough for now we have a way of tampering with this disorder’s relentless march.
First let us address the limitless repertoire of this disorder. As a disorder it is not about the husband or the mother or even the young naive, pregnant with the obsession to impress the world. The medical fraternity has delved deeper. Some fundamental facts first: Individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience obsessions, compulsions, or both. Research points out that the majority of patients experience both obsessions and compulsions, rather than one or the other.
What exactly are obsessions? To put it succinctly, they are repetitive and persistent thoughts (contamination), images (violent or horrific scenes), or urges (to stab someone). Here is the caveat. Unlike tempting assumptions, obsessions are not pleasurable experiences. Nor are they experienced as voluntary. They are intrusive, unwanted, pungent, and cause marked distress or anxiety in most individuals. A person suffering from OCD attempts to ignore, avoid, or suppress obsessions or to neutralize them with another thought or action.
These lead to compulsions or rituals that become repetitive behaviors (washing, checking) or mental acts (counting, repeating words silently) that individuals feel condemned to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly. Compulsions thus turn responses to an obsession, like thoughts of contamination that leads to the ritual of washing. In other words, the aim is to reduce the distress triggered by obsessions or to prevent a feared event. In the context of OCD, these compulsions are not rationally connected to the feared event, or are clearly excessive, like showering for hours each day.
What comes out is torturous to say the least. So as not to be projected as nagging and squabbling, there is an instant inward journey. An isolated contemplation, that is conciliating with others and yet oppressed with oneself. An obedient dulling into an intoxicating hum.
Do we have light at the end of this tunnel? The answer is an obsessive yes. From psychotherapy to pharmacotherapy there is help at every bend of the road. Including deep brain stimulation that works its way through that inflamed pathway (CSTC) of damage.
However one doesn’t have to walk that far. Most evidences suggest first-line treatment with exposure and response prevention (a type of cognitive behavioral therapy) rather than treatment with a medication. A word of caution here. OCDs do tend to have alliances. From depressive disorders, panic disorders to personality disorders they enjoy company. Thus the need to seek physicians, the absolute necessity to start medications accordingly. Two words have always enticed me in medicine. Awareness and slender. An ability to pick up slender hints makes a fine physician. The education of awareness makes a fine citizen. The two together can dominate any disorders of the world.
Q.1.
From an obsessive husband to an obsessive mother to any
obsessive ritual –
(1)
these are one heck of emotions that are obsessed by default.
(2)
this is one heck of an emotion that is obsessed by choice.
(3) this is one heck of an emotion
that is obsessed with fault.
(4) this is one heck for an
emotion that is obsessed by faulty choice.
(5) It is one heck of an
emotion that is extremely passionate by default.
Q.2. Which of the
following statement/s is/are NOT TRUE in context to the passage?
(1) A person suffering from OCD
attempts to ignore, avoid, or suppress obsessions or to neutralize them with
another thought or action.
(2) Compulsions turn responses to
an obsession, like thoughts of contamination that leads to the ritual of
washing.
(3) Taciturnity in a classroom is
obedience in a market.
(4) The education of awareness
makes a fine citizen.
(5) From psychotherapy to
pharmacotherapy there is help at every bend of the road.
Q.3. A person suffering from
OCD attempts to ignore, avoid, or suppress obsessions or to ________________.
(1) seek physicians, the absolute
necessity to start medications accordingly.
(2) rules that must be applied
rigidly.
(3) to stab someone.
(4) neutralize them with another
thought or action.
(5) reduce the distress triggered
by obsessions or to prevent a feared event.
Q.4. Which of the following
statement/s is/are TRUE in context to the passage?
(A) An ability to pick up slender
hints makes a fine physician.
(B) Individuals suffering from
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience obsessions, compulsions, or
both.
(C) An ubiquitous human emotion
perennially present from childhood to adulthood, from cradle to the coffin.
(1) Only A
(2) Only B
(3) Only C
(4) Only B and C
(5) All A, B and C
Q.5. What comes out is torturous to say the least. An isolated
contemplation –
(1) that is conciliating with others and yet liberated with oneself.
(2) that is conciliating with
itself and yet oppressed with others.
(3) that is conciliating with others
and yet in chains with one’s own self.
(4) that is conciliating with
others and yet oppressed with yourself.
(5) that is conciliating with
others and still not oppressed with oneself.
Q.6. Which of the following is
possibly the most appropriate TITLE for the passage?
(1) Awareness and slender
(2) When obsession is a disease
(3) Cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical
(4) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
(5) The medical fraternity and
its fundamental facts
Q.7-8. Choose the word/group of words
is most SIMILAR in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as
used in the passage.
Q.7. REBEL
(1) Management (2)
clear (3) Residence
(4) Not obeying (5) Living
Q.8. PROCLIVITIES
(1) Oppose (2) Sweep (3) Intention (4) Tendency (5) Elixir
Q.9-10. Choose the word/group of words
is most OPPOSITE in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold
as used in the passage.
Q.9. SQUABBLING
(1) Disagree (2)
Creation (3) Agree (4) Estimation (5) Impose
Q.10. UBIQUITOUS
(1) Rare (2)
Present (3) Philanthropist (4) Naïve (5) understanding
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MAHENDRA GURU