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NOTES -want close relationships but afraid of humiliation or rejection -establish a distance between themselves and others -they scan the environment looking for possible threats -hypersensitive to rejection and criticism, take small negative remarks to heart -feel they are inferior-have low-esteem, devalue even the most impressive of their accomplishment -shy, sad, lonely, anxious -under extreme stress, talk about feelings of emptiness -emotional, physical abuse, parental anxiety, overprotection contribute to this mental disorder -if parental, family rejection is compounded by peer rejection, more predisposed toward a personality disorder

THE STORY media type="custom" key="5121601"

THE CASE STUDY

CITATION (DON'T LOOK AT IT)


 * DIAGNOSIS:**

I believe that the kid named Tom is suffering from some sort of personality disorder. Tom feels lonely at school and wishes he had friends, but he is too shy to go up to them and feels uncomfortable. Furthermore, he was intimidated after being humiliated in front of the red girl and starts to avoid her whenever he sees her. Tom is timid, anxious, afraid of humiliation, thinks he is inferior, and feels he is inadequate to be around the other guys at school. He seems to be suffering from avoidant personality disorder. A person with avoidant personality disorder tends to feel inferior and timid and cannot have reasonable social relationships with others because he/she is afraid that he/she will make a mistake and humiliate his/herself in front of the other people. One constantly thinks he/she is unattractive and gets a lot of stress from all these concerns.


 * TREATMENT:**

For treatment, Tom should get social skills training to practice and improve his social skills. Group therapy will help also because it will give him a chance to meet other people and help to amend his social relationships faster. However, treatment should be done carefully because people suffering from avoidant personality disorder tend to give up easily and do not work as hard to change their personality. Moreover, because they are so overprotective, the process can be harder and slower for the patient to recover. Due to his/her low self esteem, the patient should be dealt with much attention and care while getting the therapy.

SOURCES: - Avoidant Personality Disorder. (n.d.). . Retrieved January 12, 2010, from http://www.social-anxiety-shyness-info.com/art/sad/a-11-avoidant-personality.htm. - Psych Central: Avoidant Personality Disorder Treatment. (n.d.). . Retrieved January 12, 2010, from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx8t.htm.