Case Study Analysis Of Kousei Arima's Your Lie In April

The character chosen for this case study analysis is the quiet and introverted protagonist, Kousei Arima, from the series Your Lie in April. The series is set in Japan, and follows Kousei and how his life is turned around when he meets Kaori, a free-spirited violinist. As seen through flashbacks, Kousei was a piano prodigy as a child and won many competitions under the instruction of his strict mother. As his mother became ill, she became increasingly harsh and critical of young Kousei. After his mother dies, Kousei is left scarred and traumatized by his childhood, so much so, that he gives up performing due to, what he describes as, being unable to hear the notes that he plays on the piano. The series takes place several years after the death …show more content…
He is quiet and kind hearted, but when he attempts to play the piano for pleasure or for a performance, he becomes panicked and, at times, is filled with agonizing guilt. When he gets into this panicked-state, he claims to be unable to hear the notes he plays on the piano, despite having no hearing impairments. He also experiences flashbacks to the negative times of his childhood associated with his mother, and he blames himself for her death despite the fact that she was ill. As a child, when his mother realized his talent for playing the piano, his mother forced him to train vigorously for competitions. During this training, he was often abused by his mother and kept away from other children, except for when competing. After a significant competition, young Arima is once again abused by his mother after not playing to her standards, and he rebels against her. This is the last time he speaks to his mother because shortly after, she dies from her illness, leaving Arima to blame himself for her death. My primary probable diagnosis for Kousei Arima is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and I will use evidence from the show to support this …show more content…
Arima’s persistent distorted cognitions about the cause of his mother’s death usually appear when he is having flashbacks to the last time he spoke to her as a child. The last words he said to her were, “I just wish you were dead,” after being unable to emotionally withstand being quiet after his mother hits him with a cane due to his piano performance. Because his mother died with those being his last words to her, Kousei has developed distorted cognitions that it is his fault his mother died. The “consequence” Mr. Arima believes he must suffer from is being unable to enjoy playing the piano again. He has convinced himself that he is never allowed to be happy playing the piano, because of what he said to his mother. When he dissociates during a performance, Kousei has sometimes claimed to see his mother, simply put, haunting him, preventing him from hearing the notes he is playing on the piano and from enjoying his time onstage. Kousei Arima also suffers from markedly diminished participation in significant activities. Although he was forced to practice for long hours and was punished for even small mistakes, it is apparent that Kousei still enjoyed playing the piano. After his mother’s death, Kousei quit competitions and no longer played the piano for fun. The only time, after his mother’s death, that he played the piano was when he turned when he took on a small job to make some money that required him to listen to popular songs and write sheet music for them. For