--Original published at MelanieBlevins
Miguel is facing multiple problems in college that have caused him to fall behind and struggle with his school work. He is having trouble sleeping at night, causing him to be irritable and sensitive during the day. Miguel is a perfectionist and has lately been letting himself down. There are multiple modern day perspectives that may explain Miguel’s actions.
From a Psychodynamic perspective, Miguel’s unconscious mind has the desire to be perfect and achieve good grades. Because his mind does this automatically, he is unable to react in a positive manner when he does anything below his high standards. This causes him to act out aggressively towards others because he is truly upset with himself. It also causes him to have trouble sleeping at night because his unconscious is always unhappy and worrying about perfectionism. From the viewpoint of a behavioral psychologist, Miguel would be observed staying up throughout the night and getting into fights with his roommates. Miguel’s behavioral habits rely on past experiences, showing that him picking a fight may be a habit he had learned previously in his life through friends, family, or peers. Additionally, his parents may have pushed him throughout his life convincing him he was not good enough and could always do better. This would be an explanation for his perfectionist personality and behavioral outbreaks. From a humanistic viewpoint, Miguel believes he is failing and will never be good enough to impress anyone. In Miguel’s reality he is imperfect, causing him to be distracted away from any others strengths he may have. This is causing him emotional trouble and a lack of happiness, which he may be coping with by fighting. Cognitive psychology would focus on the way Miguel is feeling and what is noticeably going on in his head. His thought process is jumbled and he is constantly bringing himself down because he cant be confident unless he is perfect. These thoughts are controlling his life and his lack of sleep is making it so he is unable to think about anything else. From a biological perspective, Miguel’s brain may be experiencing a chemical imbalance that has caused him to develop anxiety. His anxiety may be triggered by stress, making him very sensitive at times because of the stress of college and achieving perfection. This imbalance may also cause an obsession with being perfect and angry outbursts to those who try to help him. Lastly, a cultural perspective of Miguel may show his mental processes to be specific to his cultural group. Where he is from, perfectionism may be a way of life and those who achieve it are respected. However, those who do not achieve perfection may be punished for their failures. Going to college, Miguel may have left his typical environment and began interacting with students that have a different background from him. Students that are considered “lazy” may anger Miguel or confuse him because of his different views.