Name: ________________

Total marks: /25

Year 10 Pre-VCE Psychology Case Study Analysis - Assessment

ANSWERS / SOLUTIONS
Read the following case study and answer the questions that follow.

Belinda is 42 years old and has been experiencing a significant level of worry and personal distress in the
past few months. It all started after her stressful divorce - which left Belinda as a single mother having to
look after her three children. Over the past fortnight, she found it difficult at times to rid herself of
negative thoughts.

Even though Belinda has a steady job, and had worked for the same company for over six years, she
found it difficult to stop worrying about losing her job which could lead to an inability to provide for her
children as a single mother.

Following an error at work a fortnight ago that caused the company a financial loss, she had lost
confidence in her ability to complete her management job. Since then, Belinda had found herself high
levels of anxiety, similar to how her father used to experience when she was younger. This caused her to
miss many days of work and also not be able to drop her children off at school. She is finding it very
difficult to go back to her ‘normal way of life’.

Belinda’s friends and family are worried about her as she is not interacting with them in the same typical
way that she used to and is displaying uncontrolled emotions, such as fits of anger and endless crying.

Question 1 (4 marks)
Mental health is often represented on a continuum.
Is Belinda more likely to be described as being mentally healthy, having a mental health problem, or
having a mental disorder? Explain your response, using three pieces of evidence from the scenario.

Belinda is experiencing a mental disorder. This is because:

1) After Belinda made an error at work that caused her
company a financial loss, she became upset and suffered high
level of personal distress.
2) Belinda missed many days of work and couldn’t even drop
her kids off at school - she couldn’t function and showed
dysfunction.
3) Belinda stopped interacting with her friends and family -
 which shows that she has LOW social wellbeing.
Question 2 (2 marks)

Identify one internal factor and one external factor that influence Belinda’s current state of mental health
from the given scenario.

Internal factor: Her inability to control her own emotions

External factor: Her divorce

Question 3 (2 marks)

Name a biological, psychological and social factor that is influencing Belinda’s mental health in the
scenario.

Biological factor: Her genes (her father also had anxiety)

Psychological factor: Her uncontrolled emotions

Social factor: Divorce

Question 4 (2 + 3 + 2 = 7 marks)

Belinda struggles to drop off her children to school on time.

a. Name and describe the specific source of stress this represents. (2 marks)

Daily pressure - because Belinda having to drop off her

children at school is something she has to do every day and it
causes her a bit of irritation but not high levels of stress.

b. When Belinda went through her divorce, which specific source of stress did this represent? Describe this
source of stress. (3 marks)

Belinda’s divorce was a life event. This is because it was

significant to her and it forced her to have to adapt and
change her life as a result of new circumstances (not having a
husband anymore).

c. Name the factor (biological, psychological, or social) that relates to each of the following: (2 marks)
(i) Belinda’s loss of confidence in her ability to do well at her job: Psychological
(ii) Belinda displaying a lack of control over her emotions: Psychological
Question 5 (3 marks)
Is Belinda’s current situation causing her to experience eustress or distress? Justify your answer.

Belinda is experiencing distress because she’s showing a

negative psychological response to her work-related stress
and this is also shown through her negative emotions such as
her “fits of anger” and “endless crying”.

Question 6 (2 marks)
With reference to the scenario, name and explain how Belinda is not demonstrating any one of the
characteristics of a mentally healthy person that you have learnt about.

Answers may vary, depending on the characteristic (high

levels of functioning, social wellbeing, emotional wellbeing or
resilience) the student has chosen. Sample answer below:

Social wellbeing: Belinda shows poor/low social wellbeing

because she has stopped interacting with her friends and
family and this could affect her relationships with them.

Question 7 (2 marks)
Using your knowledge of the characteristics of a mentally healthy person, suggest one way in which
Belinda could improve her current mental health state.

Answers may vary.

To improve her social wellbeing, Belinda can be open with
her family and friends and can talk to them freely instead of
shutting them out or ignoring them.

Question 8 (3 marks)
After a few visits to a psychologist, Belinda is feeling better and is now attending work regularly. She still
experiences periods of high stress and anxiety but these are much less severe than before.
Which state of mental health is Belinda now experiencing? Explain a reason for your answer.
Mental health problem - as Belinda is still experiencing high stress and anxiety but not as
intensely or severely as before. She looks like she is on the way to good mental health
since she is visiting a psychologist and attending work regularly.