I am currently a junior in high school. For those of you who've been through it, recall that it's hell: tough courses, little sleep, and of course, teenage angst.
It's no secret that I want to be a psychologist when I "grow up". Because of this, my friends generally come to me for advice; usually it's along the lines of "I want to ask someone to the prom but I don't know how", or other equally trivial topics.
My friend's (who I'm going to call Jerry to protect his privacy) came to me one day and asked for help. I sat down with him, and he immediately spouted off his life story. Here are the bare details:
- He was often neglected as a child by his parents. He rarely saw his father (gov't worker, came home late) and his mother worked full-time. He often had to rely on his neighbors for care.
- He feels that his parents' love is conditional. He has repeated stated that he "hates" his mother, but fails to give specific reasons.
- He is severly depressed. He often thinks about suicide, but never seriously considers it.
- His grades are slipping. He is usually sleeping or daydreaming in class.
- His last relationship with a girl ended because he was taking it too seriously; the girl was practically unaware she was his girlfriend.
- He thinks his parents' marriage was a forced one (Asian culture)
- His father used to beat him for punishment (usually as a result of said slipping grades)
- Becomes agitated and cries when he talks about his ex-girlfriend or his parents.
As a person, he's very dramatic. He likes to be in the center of attention (sulking when he isn't), but not to the degree of throwing tantrums when he isn't. His whole speech was punctuated by generalizations, of exagerations.
Clearly, he's got histrionic tendencies. What I wanted to know was, as a friend, how can I help him? I plan to advise him to seek professional counseling, especially family counseling. He's a good kid, and symptions of HPD are supposed to lessen over time, but this behavior is severly affecting his schoolwork.
Most of this board seems to share the consensus of "Run away, save yourself!" but I care about this person. He isn't a hot girl I want to have sex with, this is a friend that I'm worried about. So please, if you have any helpful advice that doesn't involve ditching him and leaving him to deal on his own, I'd like to hear it. Thanks.