Josephine is a 47-year-old single woman. The hardest times of the year for Josephine's family are holidays and family gatherings; Josephine never seems to enjoy herself. She seldom smiles, laughs, or reacts to people and events around her. She remains detached and often goes into a room and plays video games or watches TV by herself, even when the rest of the family is eating. Her family members say that she is rude and do not want her around.
Josephine lives by herself. She has held several jobs, but lost them because of her inability to interact with others. Her cool demeanor makes her difficult to approach. Josephine has no significant relationship in her personal life and cannot name any close friends.
Josephine’s case would be diagnosed as Schizoid Personality Disorder. Symptoms of this disorder include little or no desire, nor the enjoyment of close relationships including being part of a family. Furthermore, one who has this disorder lacks close friendships and take pleasure in few things. She demonstrated an excessive detachment from social relationships and a lack of multiple emotions or expressions. Treatments for this disorder include medication, although there is no specific one for the treatment of this disorder. Nevertheless, there are medications that may aid in the alleviation of some of the symptoms. It may also be difficult to treat them with standard therapy because these patients tend to be difficult to communicate with, due to their detached mannerism. More positively, a therapist can work with a patient like this if they ensure that they show respect for the patients personal space and private thoughts. Furthermore, group therapy has been proven to be effective for these patients because it allows them to interact with and practice their interpersonal skills. This disorder does not have a known cause, but it is believed that that it can be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, mostly in early