Borderline Personality Disorder Case Study

Sandy is a 13 year-old girl who has been referred to the school therapist as she punched a classmate who took her pen without asking. When her teacher scolded her, she skipped next class and left school. General behaviors of bullying, skipping classes and self-harming have been referred from parents and teachers. These will be analyzed progressively onwards. Taking the latter information into account, some superficial assumptions regarding diagnosis could be made. Behavioral problems in general and being a bully in particular, are often associated with conduct disorder (Loeber, Keenan, Lahey, Green & Thomas, 1993). Additionally, borderline personality disorder, could be the best option out of all. Borderline is highly associated with feelings

The ASFAI consists of questions regarding a) conditions under which they engage in the problem behavior, b) what changes would help them improve their behavior and c) what they like about each of their content area courses. Also, the OBVQ assesses the bully/victims problem in schools. It includes the definition of bullying and investigates the frequency and types of bullying, the location where the bullying takes place, who does the bullying and how often children report bullying to teachers or family. Lastly, the MUSHQ is a 29-item self-report questionnaire and assesses motivations and functions of self-harm.It assesses categories such as a) self-punishment, b) self-anger, c) interpersonal anger, d) tension/distress, e) escape, f) boredom, g) suicide-urge, h) attention, i) loneliness and j) communication. She claimed that she used to like school, but she does not anymore. Some of her classmates are stealing her belongings and teasing her, as she is not good at mathematics. She tried to ignore them, but they did not seem to stop. She tried to tell her parents as well, but they were busy. She stated that was feeling sad and

Her parents could not pay attention to her when she cuts her wrists, which does not mean ignoring her, just not reinforcing cutting. They can take care of her wounds without saying anything or showing any emotion. This could lead self-harm to fade off. She can also be encouraged to call a friend or melt ice cubes in her palms and count until 20 when she feels angry, lonely or the urge to self-harm (DRA). Additionally, FCT is strongly related to DRA-based technique (Vollmer, Roane, Ringdahl & Marcus, 1999). In FCT the reinforcer that maintains the problem behavior can be withheld after the occurrences of the problem behavior and presented following instances of communication (Carr & Durand, 1985). For instance, if challenging behavior is proved to be reinforced by attention, FCT could involve leading aberrant behavior to extinction (ignoring) while providing attention on appropriate mands (e.g. talk to a friend or exercise to relieve unbearable feelings). She can be also trained and encouraged to communicate her feelings to her parents and classmates in more adaptive and functional ways (e.g. ask for something politely and be patient until it is given). To fight feelings of loneliness, she could improve her social skills by participating in school societies and activities. Moreover, she could be