Magnus, a 15 year old male, is brought into an outpatient clinic by his mother for psychological evaluation. He is described by his mother as having “always being an odd child” who had significant difficulty relating to his peers. In early childhood, he would spend most of his time playing alone. Even in elementary school, his teachers observed him role playing alone on the playground. Magnus has always been extremely anxious in social situations and had difficulty that arose from misreading the cues given him by other children. He has had a history of not socializing and when he is not in school, he spends most of his time on his computer. Since a young age he spent many hours a day playing video games. In the last few years, he has discovered …show more content…
He is anxious in social situations, even with groups that he is very familiar with. His anxiety has increased since he started high school. He stated being suspicious of his peers. He believes his teachers and classmates think poorly of him. He doesn’t trust them and is concerned that they will “gang up on him.”

His mother suffers from depression and anxiety, and he has two maternal aunts diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Since childhood Magnus has been interested in supernatural experiences. His mother reported that his interest goes “way beyond normal for someone of his age” and it is more like an obsession. His preoccupations seem to dominate his life at the exclusion of other activities. Magnus explained his belief in his ability to predict the future. He believes that coins in particular have power. He believes that he can flip a coin and, dependent on whether it lands on heads or tails, discern whether an event will occur. As an example, he described that he flipped a coin and was able to predict his “mother’s illness” (onset of a depressive episode). Magnus reported that he is superstitious. For example, black cats crossing his path and walking under ladders “will definitely cause something very bad to