--Original published at Victoria's Psych Blog
I think that there is a lot going on with Miguel in the case study. From a psychodynamic perspective, his parents must have put a lot of stress on him when he was little. I am guessing that his chores involved cleaning and it wasn’t considered complete until it was spotless. His parents also most likely put a lot of pressure on his academic work too and were not happy unless he has 100 percent in all of his classes. Tied in with my guess on his childhood is my behavioral perspective. When his parents put all of this pressure on Miguel, they were conditioning him to make sure he got perfect scores on everything. They must have had some punishment along with not getting good scores. One guess is instead of a physical punishment, his parents said they were disappointed in him. Miguel strives to be perfect just like his parents taught him, which being a disappointment is a cruel punishment for him. The humanistic perspective shows that Miguel is not being his true self. I think that Miguel should join a club on campus or pick up a hobby to help him start to discover his true self. Plus, if Miguel did manage to get more sleep, it would help Miguel be his true self. A cognitive perspective shows that Miguel might have depression or a lot of anxiety which prevents him from sleeping and focusing on his school work. I would suggest that Miguel go to the campus therapist and ask for coping methods to help him cope with anxiety/depression. Anxiety and depression can be the cause of irritability, anger, and lack of sleep and focus. A perspective from neuroscience would show that Miguel might have a disposition of having a mental disorder from genetics. If his parents have anxiety, depression or any other psychological disorder, he has a good chance of having it too. The final perspective is cultural. If he or his parents are from a different area or country, he might have some added pressures culturally too. If his parents immigrated to the United States for him to get a better education, it is an added pressure on his academics. His family could have cultural habits such as harsh self judgement and different views on different subjects. Such as he might have been pressured to be a major in a field of study he isn’t interested in, which would tie back to the humanistic view. There are many possibilities of what Miguel is going through. But, if anyone feels the way Miguel is, please get help from a counselor or trusted adult who can aid in getting help.