1. Identify the case study you chose.
2. Why did you choose this case study?
3. Analyze the main issue of the adolescent.
4. Is this a cognitive, physical, social-emotional or "other/combination" issue?
5. Discuss what protective or supportive structures might have prevented the issue(s).

Case Study 24: MY LITTLE BROTHER

Unfortunately, I have a very personal view of someone exhibiting risk-taking behavior; within the past few years, my brother, who is two years younger than me, has chosen to cope with a family incident in very harmful ways. It all started when he began to isolate himself and avoid our family. He remained cooped up in his room and disengaged from our typical, normal family activities. We also noticed that he started a bad habit that was unlike him, which was binge drinking on the weekends. A short time after we noticed this behavior change, the smell of marijuana could be detected coming from his room on a regular basis. Furthermore, when my family decided to move to a new home, his drinking seemed to stop, but his weed use escalated to the point of being a constant issue. I privately inquired why he was partaking in these bad habits, and he told me that it helped to alleviate his anxiety. To which I asked, "What are you anxious about?" He could not define the reason. Lately, my brother sleeps all day and has been skipping school so much that it has become problematic for his grade point average. His behavior has led me to believe that he is experiencing some form of depression. The textbook explains that one of the most common causes of depression is "conflict with friends and family" (Jette and Killham, 2016, p. 55). This makes sense for my brother, as I think his depressed mood and unhealthy coping mechanisms came directly after a family incident that split a lot of us up. Family issues can be very difficult to handle, and he is obviously not handling this family crisis in a healthy way.It seems easy to say what family and friends should do to help a person, but it is a lot harder when you are a part of the family and friends who should be helping. I think there is a lot my family could have done or could be doing that would help my brother, but they, including me, have been too focused on their own problems. Currently, my mother is trying to arrange a time for her and my dad to sit down and talk to my brother about what exactly is going on. My brother is a difficult person to talk to because he has a lack of care about his life and shows little sign of actually wanting to get better, so I understand why my parents have been hesitant to do this. My brother is a smart young man with lots of potential, and I do believe that he will eventually get better. He has the goal of going to college to pursue engineering because despite skipping a lot of school, he still gets great grades thanks to the leniency of his teachers. I am really hoping that when he goes to college next year, he will be able to heal and realize that he can do a lot more with his life than smoke marijuana in his bedroom.