Case Study Bob

Bob is a 23 year old male client presenting to therapy for complaints around anger control, socializing and an inability to focus. As Bob is a student, one of the complaints that most concerns him is his inability to study and perform in school. Bob comes from a family of upper middle class family of scholars but only one member of the family presenting with psychotic illness but is still highly functional. Bob has grown up in a nuclear family with one sister. Growing up Bob was described as a “sweet” kid who had only minor social difficulties concerning his anger. Bob did not appear to have any problems relating to school until 10th grade. During both his sophomore and junior years of high school Bob as bullied by several students in his high school with most of the bullying focused on “his sagging chest”. During this time Bob experienced both physical and emotional trauma. He also started showing problems centered around inter personal relationships. Bob now avoids socializing in every way possible. He avoids close relatives and almost never leaves the house. Bob’s presenting symptoms include: outburst of intense anger related to several phobias, an inability to socialize, rigid moral …show more content…
This is characterized by “a pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of that leads to submissive and clinging behaviors and fears of separations” (American Psychological Association, pg. 675). One could argue that since Bob will only socialize with his immediate family he is dependent on them. It is true that “social relations tend to be limited” with Dependent Personality Disorder, however, this is not the main reason for distress for Bob (American Psychological Association, pg. 677). It is also important to note that Bob does not meet any of the eight possible criteria needed to be diagnosed with Dependent Personality Disorder. (The list of criteria can be found on pg. 675 in