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I have a friend, lets call him Bob. Bob is, well was, a pretty normal guy until just around 7th grade. Lately he started to slack off on his school work, stop coming to school and even forgets to eat from time to time. There was this one time he locked himself up in his room for a week, and when i got in there, it was a complete pigsty, full of trash on the floor and Bob sprawling on the floor. The weirdest thing is that when he's at school everyone sees him as a perfectly normal guy, and he does act normal, as in talkative and active in school. But when he gets home, he turns into a completely different guy, mainly just quiet and silent, even when he has friends over. He also takes care of his dog a lot better than he does for himself or his friends. Of course this all started after a certain incident that may have traumatized him deeply. Im guessing that would be the main reason why, but its been a long time since its happened so im starting to get worried.

Diagnosis From what I have read, it may seem as though Bob has multiple personalities but I honestly think that that he's just going through puberty. Slacking off in school is a common thing and you will always find at least one person in your class who does this and skipping class can be found in many schools. The issues of forgetting to eat may be that he is simply on a diet or he might be busy working on something else, perhaps, he may have obsessive compulsive disorder. He may have a certain kind of obsession that has caused to forget him to eat and stay for days in his room without coming out (Thomas R. Insel). The messy room is common among many males in there teenage years and him sprawling on the floor may simply be some stretching or exercise, such as, yoga. However, if his room is abnormally messy, it may be possible that he is anally expulsive, causing him to prefer everything unorganized rather than having things organized (A psychology student’s best friend). Some of the clearest signs of him having disorders are when they become harmful to himself or the environment around him and he seems to be socializing well and the people around him don't seem to be affected by what he does. His sudden change when he comes home is normal, he may simply be tired from the activities he has done outside and being more silent around friends when they are not in school may simply be because most of his comments may be a thing of the moment and and outside of school there is just less things happening. His care for the dog is something most pet owners should posses, after all they say that taking care of a kid should be like taking care of your own child. The certain incident that has traumatized probably isn't what is causing him to be this way. Chances are that he has now gotten over the incident and is simply going through puberty and teenage life. Teenagers are very vulnerable and may be manipulated into doing certain acts that may seem strange. However, he should eventually grow out of it.

Treatment I believe that he doesn't have any problematic disorders, simply the effect of puberty, and he will eventually grow out of. However, if you are still worried about your friend, talk to him and see if something is bothering him. If there is something that is troubling him talk him into a better mood and and ask him about his room, if he prefers it that way, leave it, if he want to try cleaning it, help him clean his room. A cleaner room can lighten a person's spirit.