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My name is Ivy and I am 17 years old. I was raised in Chicago, but now I am in boarding school, attending the A.H. (Academically Hardest) High School in Boston. Since youth, my parents gave me education in order to be more academically successful than anyone else. Therefore I am not as sociable as other students; this does not affect me because studying is the most important thing to do as a student. Whenever I receive a grade below A-, I start to pinch myself to give myself punishment. However, from a year ago, I started using pen to give myself punishment and then now I start to cut myself with sharp materials. I always wear long sleeves in order to hide the scar because people think I am going insane. Is punishing myself attempting wrong action?

Diagnosis:

Well first of all, it seems that Ivy does seem to have a small anti social personality disorder but the main reason for that would have to be because of her strong focus in academics. Though it may pose a problem for the future, it does not seem like she has a problem with being sociable with students but just that she is inexperienced and shy. Secondly, her habit of stabbing herself with a pen seems to come from her want to achieve a higher grade. However, her want for a higher grade goes along the lines of extreme obsession and compulsion. This obsession not only brings upon harm onto the student but also seems to worry others and people around her. It started with simple pinching but, as it grew to cutting with sharp objects, it most likely will grow into a much more harmful habit (even though it is pretty harmful as it is)

Treatment:

The main thing that Ivy would need to go through would be helping Ivy see that academics, though an important part in a students life, is not the most crucial part in life. I would recommend encouragement from others, and participating in more active environments such as sports. I would also recommend that she should step back from academics slowly, to make sure she does not panic due to a sudden change in environment. She also needs to find something to take a hobby or interest in to help her through her times of need. If she finds something that she enjoys to do, she could help ventilate her frustration for a certain grade through enjoyment of the activity. If she can not find something that she enjoys to do, the final option would be through extreme "detoxing" of her habits. However, this would have to be a final extreme measure, only to be used if her habits start harming her farther

This might be a Borderline Personality Disorder. This is when someone takes out anger on themselves especially when their expectations aren't met. People with these disorder tend to hurt themselves. Also judging by the way her not socializing, we can predict that Ivy is anti social. Treatment: Group and individual therapy doesn't do much but antidepressant drugs and mood stabilizers may be helpful for BPD. ASP should focus on helping Ivy understand her surrounding. Insight-oriented forms of psychotherapy are not helpful to people with ASP.

TO BE CONTINUED